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1877 
Copy 1 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ) 

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MARYLAND INSTITUTION FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB, FREDERICK, MD 







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































—Reception Room. E. —Library. E.— Officers’ Parlor. Pantries. 

.—Principal’s Office. F.— Officers’ Dining Room. M.— Steward’s Office. RR.— Bath Rooms. 

—Directors’ Room. G.— Pupils’ Dining Room. ^’.—Housekeeper’s Room. SS.— Water Closets. 

—Principal’s Dining Room. H.— Class Rooms. ©.— Physician’s Office. TT.— Open Courts. 

K.— Apparatus Room. P.—Boys Study. 


3 « SB ► 
• •. • • 










/ 





















































REPORT 


—ON THE— 


Public Charities, 


REFORM ATORIES, 




AND 


—OF THE— 


/ 

STATE OF MARYLAND, 


—BY— 


C. W. CHANCELLOR, M. D„ 

» , .1 . 


Mcvv^tawL 

Secretary of the State Board of Health, 

A 

—MADE TO— 


His Excellency, John Lee Carroll, Governor. 


JULY, 1877. 



FREDERICK, MD.: 

BAUGHMAN BROTHERS. 
18 U. 



CONTENTS 


PAGE. 


Gov Carroll’s Letter of Instruction, ______ 9 

Members of the Maryland State Board of Health, - 7 

Introductory Remarks, -------- 9 

The Insane, - • - - - - - - - _ - *n 

Increase of Insanity among Negroes, ------ 14 

Statistics of Insanity, ________ 15 

Almshouses Generally, - . - - - - - 16 

Children in Almshouses and Jails, ------ 17 

District “Asylum Schools” for Children, ----- 18 

District or Union Almshouses, - - - - ' - - • 18 

Plan of J. Crawford Neilson, Esq., Architect, 19 

Plan suggested by Dr. J S Conrad,. 20 

Prisoners Generally, ----- 22 

Classification of Prisoners, _______ 24 

Progress of Pauperism, - - - - - - - - 25 

Increase of Mendicancy, -------- ‘26 

Tramps and Tramping, -------- 27 

How best.to Deal with the Evil, ------ 30 


CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 

The Maryland Hospital for the Insane at Spring Grove, - - 31 
The Mount Hope Retreat tor the Insane, ----- 40 

The Maryland Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, 48 

The Maryland Institution for the Instruction of the Blihd, - 57 

Baltimore Institution for Colored Blind and Deaf Mutes, - - 60 








4 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 

St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys of the City of Baltimore, - 62 

The House of Refuge near Baltimore, ------ 68 

The House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children, 71 

STATE PRISONS. 

The Penitentiary, - 76 

COUNTY INSTITUTIONS. 

Alleghany County Almshouse, ------- 82 

“ Jail, - - - - - - - 84 

Anne Arundel County Almshouse,.- 85 

‘ ‘ “ Jail.89 

Baltimore City Almshouse, ------- 91 

“ “ Jail, 96 

Baltimore County Almshouse, ------- 98 

,£ “ Jail, .102 

Caroline County Almshouse, - -- -- -- 104 

'* “• Jail,.106 

Carroll County Almshouse,.107 

“ Jail,.109 

Cecil County Almshouse, - -- -- -- - no 

,£ Jail,.- - - - . 112 

Charles County Almshouse,.114 

,£ “ Jail, ... - - 115 

Dorchester County Almshouse,.116 

“ Jail, - - - ----- ns 

Frederick County Almshouse, - - - - - - 119 

Jail,.- - - - 123 

Harford County Almshouse,.. 124 

Jail,.126 

Howard “.^27 

Kent County Almshouse..128 












CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

COUNTY INSTITUTIONS—Continued. 

Montgomery County Almshouse, - - 1‘32 

“ *• Jail, -.134 

Prince George’s County Almshouse,.135 

“ “ “ Jail, .... 137 

Queen Anne’s County Almshouse,.138 

“ “ Jail, - 14() 

Somersett County Almshouse, 141 

“ “ Jail,.• 142 

St. Mary’s County Almshouse, 143 

“ “ Jail, - 146 

Talbot County Almshouse, ------- 149 

£ * “ Jail, .151 

Washington County Almshouse, - 152 

‘ “ Jail,.• 156 

Wicomico County Almshouse, - - 157 

“ ££ Jail,.158 

Worcester County Almshouse, - - - - - - 159 

* ‘ £ Jail,.161 

Table Showing Whole Number of Inmates in Almshouses, - 162 


Table Showing Whole Number of Indigent Insane in the State, 163 


6 


gov. oarroll’s letter of instruction. 


GOV. CAP-ROLL’S LETTER OF INSTRUCTION. 

STATE OF MARYLAND, 

Executive Department, 

Annapolis, February 14, 187*7. 

C. W Chancellor, M D., 

Secretary State Board of Health. 

Sir: You are hereby directed to visit and inspect the prisons, almshouses and 

public hospitals in the various counties in this State, and report to the Governor 

\ 

at as early a day as practicable their sanitary condition, the treatment of the 
inmates, and particularly, the number of pauper insane who are confined at the 
expense of the counties, together with a statement of the character of the insanity 
and any other facts of interest that may lead to the improvement of their condition. 

I remain 

Your obedient servant, 

JOHN LEE CARROLL, 


Governor. 


MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF EALTH. 


MEMBERS 

OF THE 



O F MARYLAND. 


E. LLOYD HOWARD, M. D., 
C. W. CHANCELLOR, M. D , 
J. ROBERT WARD, M. D , 
CHARLES M ELLIS, M. D , 
GEORGE E. PORTER, M. D., 


Baltimore City. 

it 

J) 

Baltimore County 
Cecil County 
Alleghany County. 


OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 


E. LLOYD HOWARD, President. 

Secretary 


C. W. CHANCELLOR, 















. 


. 






. 





















































REPORT. 


To tiie Honorable JOHN LEE CARROLL, 

Governor of the State of Maryland. 

May it please your Excellency: 

According to instructions received from you on the 14th 
day of February, 1877,1 have visited and inspected all the Alms¬ 
houses, Prisons, Reformatories and Public Institutions in the 
State; particularly with reference to their sanitary condition, 
the treatment of the inmates, and the number of pauper insane 
who are confined therein at the public expense. 

In collecting and tabulating the statistics herewith transmit¬ 
ted, I am indebted for valuable assistance to Dr. J. S. Conrad, 
Superintendent of the Maryland State Insane Asylum, who has 
visited most of the various institutions in company with me, 
and has given special attention to the classification of the insane 
inmates. 

It is painful to report the shocking condition in which many 
of the public institutions were found, and it is difficult to con¬ 
ceive that anything worse ever existed in a civilized country. 
It needs not the battle-strife with its sequences of woe, nor the 
pestilence with its horrors, to afford a field of labor for the truly 
philanthropic. It is here in our midst, at our very doors, and 
the field is widest where we most boast of refinement, progress 
and reform. The boldest efforts of the imagination cannot ex¬ 
ceed the romance of real life. 

There are many who seem to possess souls full of sensibility, 
vet who are alarmed at contemplating suffering humanity. It 
is repulsive to them in every shape. Such persons, instead of 
truly sympathizing with their fellow creatures, turn aside from 
their sufferings and shut their eyes to every distressing scene 
under the pretence that their exquisite feelings cannot bear the 
shock. The man who visits the abodes of misery, who is eye- 



10 


REPORT OF TIIE 


witness to the sad scenes which many of our prisons and alms¬ 
houses exhibit, will exercise his active benevolence with far 
more effect than he, who, whilst assuming the name of philan¬ 
thropist, contents himself with listening to the narratives of 
distress and alleviating it out of the superfluity of his fortune. 

The best written tale is not that which most resembles the 
ordinary chain of events and circumstances; but that which by 
selecting and combining; them conceals those inconsistencies and 
deficiencies which leave in real life our sense of sight unsatisfied. 
There is often more genuine benevolence in a personal visit to 
the poor, the prisoner, or the sick, than there is in any donation 
short of entire relief. 

The contentment of the poor depends, in a great measure, 
upon a combination of human sympathy with human aid , and 
when they enjoy this their pleasure may be rendered more vari¬ 
ous and more salutary in its effects, by imbuing their minds 
with useful truths and more enlarged ideas of their position and 
interests. But so long as they possess neither the comforts of 
life nor intelligence, they must necessarily continue more or less 
in a state of injurious depression. 

The fact that a mind full of piet} r and contentment yields a 
perpetual dividend of happiness, was strikingly illustrated in the 
case of an inmate of one of the almshouses visited. An old lady 
who had been left destitute was unwilling to live upon the 
bounty of her friends, and with the genuine independence of a 
strong mind resolved to avail herself of the public provision for 
the helpless poor. “The name of going to the almshouse had,” 
she said, “nothing terrifying or disgraceful to her, for she had 
been taught that conduct was the real standard of respectabil¬ 
ity.” She is now there with a heart full of thankfulness, patient, 
pious and uniformly cheerful. She instructs the young around 
her, encourages the old, and makes herself an agreeable com¬ 
panion to all by her varied knowledge and entertaining conver¬ 
sation. Her character reflects dignity on her station, and those 
who visit her come away with sentiments of respect and admi¬ 
ration for this voluntary resident of the almshouse, who feels in 
her heart that, 

“Honor and shame from no condition rise .’’ 

In treating of the respective institutions visited, my endeavor 
shall be to make a full and faithful exposition of their real con- 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


11 




dition—hygienic, medical, and moral—believing that if the pub¬ 
lic attention is once fully directed to them it will result in much 
good. The combination of misery and sensual excesses, of igno¬ 
rance and filthiness, of want of feeling and propriety, are com¬ 
mon instances of the evils which too frequently exist in public 
institutions, and which pressingly call for legislative interfer¬ 
ence. It may be said that these places after all are but the 
abodes of persons of low degree, and that it is unsuitable to 
give them “a palace to dwell in.” Thus might those argue who 
look at the matter only with reference to physical considera¬ 
tions, and who cannot or will not view it in its moral bearings. 

Dean Swift has said, “There is not anything which contributes 
more to the reputation of a State, or to the honor of a Nation 
in general, than erecting and endowing proper edifices for those 
who labor under different kinds of distress.” There can be no 
doubt of the great truth expressed in these words, unless we are 
prepared to sustain the maxim of Malthus, “It is cheaper to 
bury than to feed.” 


THE INSANE. 

When we consider the rapid advances made by the world in 
every branch of social improvement, w T e cannot too strongly 
stigmatize the manner in which the inmates of some of our pub¬ 
lic institutions are treated—especially the indigent insane—for 
whom it would seem there is not a single gleam of commisera¬ 
tion or charity to break the horrid gloom in which their lives are 
shrouded. It cannot be denied that the practice which prevails 
in many of the counties of herding the insane in jails or alms¬ 
houses, instead of sending them to a proper asylum, where their 
shattered minds would be brought nearer to the fountain of 
cure, is a crime against God, against society', and against indi¬ 
viduals ; a shame to our civilization and a blot on our age. It 
is an evil well worthy the attention of the State, but it is feared 
that the custom which originally arose from the credulous belief 
that insane persons are possessed of a devil, is still too deeply 
rooted in the human mind to be easily 7 eradicated. 

In an admirable monograph on insanity and its treatment, 
Mr. Charles I). Robinson says with much force: “There is prob¬ 
ably 7 no subject closely' connected with our every day affairs, md 



12 


REPORT OF TIIE 


• 

prominently presented for our consideration, so little understood 
as insanity. Hospitals for the treatment of bodily diseases, 
institutions for the education of our youth, and places for train¬ 
ing young men and women in mechanical and agricultural pur¬ 
suits, exist in great numbers throughout the land, and we arc 
familiar with their every detail, and take a close interest in 
their success and perpetuation, but though the statistics tell us 
that there is at least one victim of insanity in each thousand of 
our population, and although we are all taxed to support an 
already large and rapidly increasing number of hospitals for the 
insane, built and maintained at great cost, and occupying beau¬ 
tiful and prominent sites along the great thoroughfares of the 
country, very few comparatively, even of our most intelligent 
people, have ever been inside of them or know anything about 
the more modern methods of dealing with this sad human in¬ 
firmity. It is a singular fact that to-day hundreds of thousands 
of people who are otherwise highly instructed and v^ho are ac¬ 
quainted with the conditions of trade, literature, manufactures, 
politics and most of the current topics of the times, know r almost 
nothing of the modern means of dealing with this enemy of the 
intellect. We devote our time and money in endeavors to find 
out and put to naught the storms which assail our commerce, 
the insidious destroyers of our crops, the climatic and other 
influences which sap our physical health, and the thousand other 
obstacles to human enterprise, but in the treatment of insanity 
we trust to a few experts who have dropped to one side of the 
beaten path and have made the care of the human mind a life 
w T ork. It is surprising when we come to know of the great 
mass of intelligent people at this day who have only a general 
idea that our hospitals for the insane are merely repetitions of 
those dungeons of a thousand years ago with their grim array 
of dark and filthy cells, their dreadful apparatus of machinery 
and their theories not of curing their inmates and sending them 
forth again to their friends “clothed and in their right mind,” 
but of fulfilling the narrow T mission which only looks to the re¬ 
moving of these unfortunate people from the view r of the world, 
and is content with the result of mental death so far as this 
world is concerned.” 

It will be seen from the statistics and tables accompanying 
this Report, that there are now within the almshouses and jails 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 13 



of our State over five hundred insane and idiotic people for 
whom there exists no proper provision, and who are utterly cast 
down and neglected, half fed and ghastly in their wretchedness. 
The impression produced by a visit to some of these “charitable 
institutions” is a counterpart of the picture of a mad house of 
the 18th century, in “Merrie England,” as drawn by Dr. W. A. 
F. Brown in his essay on “What asylums were and what they 
ought to be” in which he says: “The building is gloomy, placed 
in a low confined situation, every chink barred and grated—a 
perfect jail. As you enter, the creak of bolts and clank of 
chains are scarcely distinguished amid the wild chorus of shrieks 
and sobs which issue from every department. The passages are 
narrow, dark, damp and exhale a noxious effluvia. The first 
common room you examine, measuring 12 x 7 feet, with a win¬ 
dow which does not open, is perhaps for females. Ton of these, 
with no other clothing than a rag around their waists, are chain¬ 
ed to a wall, loathsome and hideous, but when addressed evi¬ 
dently retaining some of the intelligence and much of the feeling 
which in other days ennobled their nature. In shame or in 
sorrow one of them perhaps utters a cry; a blow which brings 
blood to the temple and a tear from the eye, an additional chain, 
a gag, an indecent or contemptuous expression compels silence. 
If you ask where these unfortunate creatures sleep, you are led 
to a kennel eight feet square with an unglazed air hole eight 
inches in diameter. In this you are told five persons sleep. The 
floor is covered and the walls bedaubed with filth and excre¬ 
ment; no bedding but wet decayed straw, and the stench is so 
insupportable that you turn away and hasten from the scene.” 

It is not my purpose to dilate upon this theme of mingled 
shame, reproach and horror; but I feel called upon by the stern 
voice of duty to draw a faithful portraiture of what has come 
under my personal observation, in order that the subject may 
be impressed upon the public mind. It is impossible to imagine 
anything worse than the brutal degradation and cruelty to 
which the insane are subjected in some of the county almshou¬ 
ses, where they are chained in solitary wretchedness, breathing 
an atmosphere quite as obnoxious to human lungs as the water 
of a stagnant pool would be to the trout of a mountain stream. 

In one of these dens I found a wretched female maniac quite 
naked and filthy beyond all conception, crouched in a corner o 




14 


REPORT OF THE 


a dark foetid room without ventilation, where she was confined 
by day and by night with no other bed than the floor, which 
was literally covered with her own slimy and putrescent excre¬ 
tions, and emitted a most disgusting and sickening stench. This 
condition of affairs, which is by no means a fancy sketch, calls 
loudly for reform. Every insane person should have the benefit 
of every chance of recovery afforded by science or taught by 
experience. Charity requires it, Mercy demands it! For the 
insane there is written over the portals of the almshouses as 
oyer those of the infernal regions, “Whoever enters here leaves 
hope behind.” 

The statistics of asylums constructed and conducted upon the 
best principles, show a very large per centage (75 o-o) of recov¬ 
eries in cases of recent occurrence, while those that are incura¬ 
ble are in an inverse ratio to the duration of the malady. Econ¬ 
omy and humanity alike suggest that the indigent insane should 
be afforded this chance and not be sent to an almshouse to 
become incurable and then kept there because they are incura¬ 
ble. Statistics also show that only seven per cent, of insane 
persons treated in almshouses recover. 

Dr. Edward Jarvis. in an article entitled “The Political Econ¬ 
omy of health,” says: “Under appropriate influences insanity 
is the most curable of grave diseases. If the persons who are 
attacked with this disorder arc as promptly cared for as others 
when attacked with fever, dysentery, pneumonia, etc., 80 or 90 
per cent, can be restored to health and usefulness. Eut if neg¬ 
lected, the disease tends rapidly to fix itself upon the brain and 
becomes more and more difficult to be removed. If allowed to 
remain one year the chance of restoration is materially dimin¬ 
ished. In two years the hope is reduced more than half; and 
after five years duration few are restored, and even then it is 
due to some unexpected turn of the disease rather than the 
result of healing remedies.” 

The increase of insanity has been very marked since our late 
civil war, especially among the negro race, as a consequence 
doubtless of their sudden emancipation with its attendant trials 
and cares. Unrestrained freedom has- had the effect of multi¬ 
plying their desires and wants, but together with them it has 
also multiplied greatly their disappointments, and in very many 
instances the price of liberty to them has been the prison, the 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


15 


almshouse and the insane asylum. Insanity, once almost un¬ 
known among negroes, has become so great and increasing an 
affliction in Virginia, that to relieve it the State some years ago 
constructed a negro insane asylum, the only one in the world, 
where over 300 of them are now cared for. This institution 
being overcrowded, the Legislature of the State has recently 
made a large appropriation to erect and equip another asylum 
for the negro insane, to be located south of the James River. 

From the following tables it will be seen that insanity is also 
on the increase in our State, and that already additional accom¬ 
modations are required, especially for the chronic or incurable 
insane, many of whom now languish in jails and almshouses^ 
In carrying out such philanthropic schemes, fraught as greatly 
with blessings to him who gives as to those who receive, we 
should not lose sight of the truth that in State as well as in in¬ 
dividual charity, the gift is bare into which something of sym¬ 
pathy does not enter, and that the cold charity that shows its 
ostentation in cheerless piles of architecture, is not in accord¬ 
ance with the spirit of Him who first defined true alms-giving. 

TABLE L 


Showing Insane , Idiotic , and Total Population of the State of 
Maryland for 1850, 1860 and 1870: 


Year. 

Population. 

Insane. 

Miotic. 

Ratio of 
Insane to 
Population. 

Ratio of 
Idiotic to 
Population. 

IfifyO. 

583,034 

687,034 

780,894 

546 

391 

1 to 1,068 

1 to 1,227 

1 to 1,491 

I860 . 

560 

305 

1 to 2,252 

1 to 2,157 

1870. 

733 

362 

1 to 1.065 


TABLE II. 


Number and Distribution of the Insane , May 1, 1877: 



Private. 

Pauper. 

Total. 

Tji fttatp Tnsanp, Asvluni.... 

50 

179 

229 

“ A lm«Vinnsps ... ... 

516 

516 

<« Toils __ . . . . 


4 

4 

Private Asylums................. ... 

249 

53 

302 

Dwellings.. .. .... 

Unknown 

Unknown. 

Unknown. 


Total. 

299 

752 

1,051 

































16 


REPORT OF THE 


ALMSHOUSES. 

An idea of the condition of many of our almshouses may be 
derived from the language of Kiel, who wrote of the German 
asylums in 1803: “They are neither curative institutions nor 
such asylums for the incurable as humanity can tolerate. They 
are for the most part veritable dens, deficient in ventilation, in 
the facilities for recreation, in short they are wanting in all the 
physical and moral means necessary to the cure and comfort of 
the inmates.” 

In most of these places cleanliness is an unknown luxury, all 
is filth and misery and the most degrading, unrelieved suffering. 
The inmates, sane and insane, were found in man}^ instances 
huddled together without discrimination of age, sox or condi¬ 
tion ; commingling in unrestrained licentiousness and with re¬ 
sults shocking to all sense of decency and humanity. Nothing 
can be more affecting than the thought that so many human 
beings, made in the image of God, but bent down under adver¬ 
sity or smitten by disease, should be left in such a wretched 
condition. It is a picture deeply calculated to arouse public at¬ 
tention. Victor Hugo never wrote of more dismal scenes, nor 
has anything more shocking been drawn by the masterly pen¬ 
cil of Bore. Has man so little respect for the jewel of reason, 
which makes him man, or so little love for his neighbor who 
has lost that treasure, that he cannot extend to him the hand of 
assistance and aid him in regaining it? The story of old Betsy 
Iligden fighting off the wolf from her door inch by inch, and 
finally running away to die in the fields in her great horror of 
the almshouse, is no myth of Dickens’ fancy. 

That human beings may have life and health to the full period 
of human existence, four factors are requisite—pure air, warmth, 
proper food and exercise of body and mind. A human being 
destroys or poisons the oxygen of nearly a gallon of air per 
minute, contaminates and renders unfit for use at least three 
times as much; and in any case, unless ventilation to that ex¬ 
tent and in proportion to the number of persons present be pro- 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


17 


vided for, the air is soon in a state that will not only seriously 
affect the health of those living in it, but of those adjacent 
thereto. No wonder that scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhus and 
typhoid fevers, and blood poisons of every description are always 
more or less prevalent in this State. These dread disorders are 
often, doubtless, generated and propogated by filthy and noi¬ 
some public institutions, and the sordid man who locks up his 
pocket and votes against a tax to correct the evil, cannot guard 
his own spacious and luxurious abode against the malady his 
own avarice has helped to originate. 

CHILDREN IN ALMSHOUSES AND JAILS. 

In most of the almshouses, and in some of the jails there were 
found children ranging in age from one month to fourteen years. 
It is indeed melancholy to contemplate these little ones growing- 
up in such haunts, with every faculty as soon as developed 
blunted and tarnished by the moral atmosphere surrounding 
them. The very first position in which they are placed in life 
is analagous to that of a beggar. They are made to feel that 
they are receivers of alms, and they learn to consider it no 
shame. The first spark of honest pride, if ever kindled in their 
breasts, dies away within them. The first exercise of reason¬ 
ing power only leads them to discover that there are other 
means of getting through the world than by self-exertion, and 
they naturally become tame, spiritless and worthless creatures; 
or perhaps the constant association with abandoned and de¬ 
praved humanity may cause them to break through all re¬ 
straints and become pests to society. 

For its own protection, each county should foster and nurture 
its unfortunate little ones, and unless something effectual is done 
to save these children from sinking still deeper into ignorance 
and pollution, society will hereafter be burdened with a new 
woe. Aside from the dictates of Christianity and philanthropy, 
let us consider the future of these children from a political stand¬ 
point. According to our free institutions they will have the 
same amount of control over the destinies of the State as their 
more upright and intelligent fellow-citizens, and this power be¬ 
ing vouchsafed them, who shall say how long it will be before 
3 


18 


REPORT OF TIIE 


their morbid impulses may lead them to deluge the State with 
tumult, conflagration and bloodshed. 

The importance of rescuing these desolate little creatures from 
the moral and physical degradation which surrounds them, and 
placing them where their minds will be constantly imbued with 
an enlightened Christianity cannot be over-estimated. I would 
therefore suggest that district “Asylum Schools” be provided, 
where these “innocents,” besides being fed and taken care 
of, can also receive a modicum of intellectual and moral train¬ 
ing. 


DISTRICT OR UNION ALMSHOUSES. 

In laying before your Excellency the fearful condition of 
the almshouses of the State, it is not m 3 " design to reflect 
specialty upon the “keepers” of these places; the fault is gen- 
eralty in the S 3 T stem itself, of which the} r are the agents and 
executors. The remedy for the evil, therefore, is to be found in 
a complete change in this 83 T stem. The perception of this need 
has hardly reached the general mind, and the means to be adopt¬ 
ed are scarcely more than guessed at. The problem is to estab¬ 
lish an enlightened and humane system with kindly treatment 
but inviolable discipline, and with this view I would urge the 
superior advantages of District or Union Almshouses, which 
should also be workhouses, admitting of classification of in¬ 
mates, hospital treatment, industrial pursuits and economy in 
expense. Every inmate of the establishment capable of physi¬ 
cal exertion should be set at work, the habit of useful industry 
being in itself a saving means of grace. Every inmate should 
have air and light and sunshine, and the opportunity to culti¬ 
vate flowers, to earn the enjoyment of music and books. Each 
should be taught habits of cleanliness and order, self-respect and 
a worthy ambition. The influences which maintain morality in 
the moral, will go very far towards inducing morality in the 
immoral. Only an organized effort can effect this desirable re¬ 
form, and I would suggest that a number of adjacent counties, 
say three, four, or five, according to the number of their pauper 
population, unite in building and furnishing a district almshouse, 
where the aged, the sick, the idiotic, the lame, the halt and the- 


PLAN OF UNION ALMSHOUSE— J. CRAWFORD NEILSON, ARCHITECT —First Floor. 


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Female Department. Male Department. 

















































































































































































SECRETARY OP TIIE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


ID 


blind could be properly and comfortably cared for and at reduced 
expense. 

A ground plan and description of such a building has been fur¬ 
nished me by J. Crawford Neilson, Esq., a skillful architect of 
this city. 

Mr. Neilson describes as follows: 

‘‘The plan shows the first floor of a building intended to ac¬ 
commodate about 250 persons. It will be three stories high, 
and while the divisions of the wings and of the superintendent’s 
building will be continued throughout the stories, the two upper 
floors of the central building will be each occupied by a corridor 
and eight rooms, giving sixteen rooms to be used for such in¬ 
mates as would not be well located in the large dormitories of 
sixteen beds each. There would be an iron stairway in each 
block. The heating should be by low steam. The boiler would 
be placed in a cellar under the middle of the front, and a large 
shaft, bounding on one side of the corridor, would help to venti¬ 
late the building, the ventilation, however, being principally 
effected by the same method which I employed so successfully 
at the Baltimore Academy of Music. The corridors and blocks 
are so arranged that in summer the aid admitted by open win¬ 
dows will sweep through the building. In winter light is largely 
admitted, but the rooms are all protected from drafts. The 
large room containing the oven, marked “Baker,” will also be 
used in connection with the large shed, as a laundry. The small 
auxilliar}- buildings are not shown on this plan, as their position 
would depend so much on the nature of the ground ; neither is 
there any indication of drainage for the same reason, and be¬ 
cause the use of conveniences depending upon the supply of 
water cannot be determined in advance of a knowledge of the 
site. This plan of building is susceptible of indefinite extension 
by either whole or half blocks on a continued corridor. In the 
use of the building the dining room would be occupied by the 
sexes alternately. In some situations the buildings might be set 
high above ground, over a cellar story to be used for workshops: 
In other places there might be only cellar enough for winter 
storage and for heating, and the shops built adjacent to the 
wings for men. Such a building as the one shown on this plan 
can be put up, where bricks can be obtained at a moderate price, 
for about $30,000, including the accessory buildings and fencing.” 


20 


REPORT OF THE 


In addition to the plan of Mr. Neilson there will be found on 
the opposite page a design for a Union Almshouse, furnished by 
Dr. J. S. Conrad, Superintendent of tho Maryland Hospital for 
the Insane, who has had a large and varied experience in the 
management of public institutions. The plan submitted by Dr. 
Conrad is that of a centre or administration building, with one 
pavillion on each side for the different sexes. The buildings 
may be one, two or three stories, as required by the number to 
be accommodated. The ground floor of the centre building is 
a plain rectangular building, with four rooms on each flour and 
passage ways at right angles. The domestic service rooms to 
be in the basement, consisting of kitchen, pantry and dining 
room. The laundry and bakery to be in a small building in the 
rear of the centre. The ground plan of the wings is a pavilion 
eighty feet in length, each pavillion containing a ward 64 feet in 
length and 28 feet wide, having 12 feet pitch of ceiling, afford¬ 
ing cubic feet capacity of 896 feet for each bed. There is a 
door at each end of the ward; one leading into a day room and 
the other communicating with the centre building by a passage. 
On one side of the passage is an infirmary 16x11 feet, on the 
other side are water closets, bath and lift. A connecting corri¬ 
dor, 8 feet by 16 feet, joins the pavilion to the centre building. 
The corridor contains a bath-room and water closets on either 
side of the passage for the use of the centre building. The cor¬ 
ridor should extend above the roof of the buildings in the form 
of a tower, and built so substantially as to hold a large tank of 
20,000 gallons of water for distribution throughout the house. 
The buildings may be heated by low pressure boilers, that do 
not require skilled labor in management, or b}~ stoves. The ven¬ 
tilation system must be established in connection with the heat¬ 
ing apparatus that may be adopted. 

The pavilions can be built with basements under them, the 
ceiling of which should be at least six feet above the grade of 
the ground outside. These basements could be used for working 
rooms or other purposes. 

Each wing should have a court-yard in the rear, extending its 
entire length, and inclosed by a picket fence, where inmates may 
have fresh air exercise. In the rear of the court-yard an ample 
garden of eight or ten acres should be provided for the employ¬ 
ment of such inmate, male or female, as may be able to work. 




PLAN OF UNION ALMSHOUSE—SUGGESTED BY J. S. CONRAD, M. 




































































































































































































































































































* 













































































































































































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


21 


Such a garden would be worth more to the Institution than two 
hundred acres of land. 

The stable should be placed in rear of the laundry and bakery 
building, separated from it by a road passing between them, ac¬ 
cessible to both. 

The number of acres of land attached to the Institution should 
not exceed a third of the number of inmates which the building 
is designed to accommodate. 

The cost of buildings, on the plan suggested, made of brick, 
should not exceed $300 per bed, for a one-story pavilion alms¬ 
house, which would aggregate $15,000 for fifty inmates, allowing 
each one 900 cubic feet of space. A two-story pavilion and 
centre building, on the same plan and dimensions, with capacity 
of one hundred inmates, should not exceed $250 per bed, aggre¬ 
gating $25,000. A three-story almshouse of similar plans as 
above described, with capacity for 150 inmates, should not ex¬ 
ceed $200 per bed, aggregating $30,000. 

Should a more economical almshouse be desired, on the same 
plan as that submitted, it may be built by reducing the dimen¬ 
sions above given to smaller proportions, thus giving a less num¬ 
ber of cubic feet to each inmate. Three or more counties con¬ 
senting to build a Union or District Almshouse, on the plans pro¬ 
posed, can easily estimate the proportionate cost to each one. 
The cost of annual maintenance will be greatly reduced by such 
combination. The salary of but one superintendent, physician, 
and matron, is to be paid, instead of three or more of these offi¬ 
cers. The family of one superintendent is to be maintained. 
Three horses can do the work, otherwise requiring nine or more. 
A like reduction of expenses, in the same proportion, in all di¬ 
rections would be effected. The management of the combined 
interest could be secured satisfactorily to each county by the ap¬ 
pointment of trustees from each county represented. 


22 


REPORT OF THE 


THE PRISONS OF MARYLAND. 

It is painful to consider that in such a State as Maryland the 
important subject of prison economy has been suffered to lag 
completely behind the improving influences of the age. Indi¬ 
viduals have labored zealously in the cause, and the Prisoners’ 
Aid Association has gathered information, and endeavored to 
concentrate public opinion upon it, but a great deal has yet to 
be done before the prisons of this State are placed on a footing 
at all answering to the advances which have been made in moral 
and political knowledge, or even as is demanded by a due sense 
of our own interests. 

Any one who may entertain doubts as to the wretched condi¬ 
tion of many of the county jails would, I think, have these 
doubts removed by visiting some of these loathsome dungeons. 
The general condition and management of a large majority of 
them is very far below what it ought to be, and, with one or two 
exceptions, all are deficient in, or rather destitute of those 
necessary arrangements which are requisite to insure that im¬ 
prisonment, if it be not beneficial, shall at least be not deterior¬ 
ating. While there are jails in the State creditable in construc¬ 
tion and administration, there are also many that are a reproach 
upon our civilization—“seminaries of crime where purity itself 
could not escape contamination.” 

In not a few of the jails the inmates were found herded to¬ 
gether, the sane and the insane, the young and the old, the un¬ 
tried prisoner, the convict serving out his sentence, and the 
witness charged with no crime whatever. Nor are the sexes 
always separated, but in many instances they were found ming¬ 
ling together with results alike revolting and disgraceful. 

It is a maxim of the common law, that an accused person is 
to be held innocent until he be proved to be guilty. Such a 
maxim, carried out to its full extent, supposes that no punish¬ 
ment, not even personal restraint, is to be inflicted before trial. 
But, as society is constituted, we cannot suppose a state in which 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


23 


all accused persons would voluntarily appear when called upon 
to abide the result of a judicial investigation,—such a perfec¬ 
tion of honest simplicity is inconsistent with the existence of 
crime, and therefore parties charged with otfenses not bailable, 
must often be held in durance vile; but it is a gross abuse to 
subject the untried prisoner to intercourse with the felon, or to 
regard or treat him as a convict until he is pronounced guilty 
by a court of justice. 

It is to be lamented that in some of the jails children under 
fifteen years of age were found exposed among hardened crimi¬ 
nals, and it is certainly very important that these irresponsible 
youths should be separated from individuals who have probably 
gone through the first part of their apprenticeship in crime, and 
are rising into life with seared hearts, and depraved and irre¬ 
claimable habits. 

Dr. Elisha Harris, corresponding secretary of the Prison As¬ 
sociation of New York, in his introduction to “The ‘Jukes,’ or 
a Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity,” says: 
“The criminal is a morbid product of the community, the family 
and the various circumstances of daily life in which his child¬ 
hood is spent, the departure downward from virtue to vice and 
crime is undoubtedly possible in the career of any youth, be¬ 
cause, the passions ungoverned, the will and conscience stupe¬ 
fied, perverted or even occasionally overcome by disease, as in 
epilepsey or in wrongly indulged appetites, may result in crimi¬ 
nal as well as all sorts of vicious acts. But the number of really 
healthy, vigorous and reasonably well born and well trained 
children w*ho ever fall into a career of crime, is exceedingly 
small. Even the accidental fall of such persons admits of res¬ 
cue. The habitual criminal classes, spring almost exclusively 
from a different stock; their youthful days have been spent 
either in vicious indulgence or amidst the degrading and blight¬ 
ing surroundings of physical and social defilement, with only a 
flickering of the redeeming and saving influence of desire and 
hope for a virtuous and useful life.” 

The existing means by which crime is nourished, maintained 
and extended, are questions which interest every intelligent citi¬ 
zen. Not to want or blameless destitution is the first entrance 
upon the career of crime to be attributed. For honest poverty 
there need be no starvation, and if crime and poverty be often 


24 


REPORT OF THE 


united, it will probably be found that that poverty has been the 
result of misconduct, of dissipation and idleness, and the tempta¬ 
tion of turning an “easy” penny. When the false step is once 
taken, a thousand snares are spread around, into which the 
thoughtless and heedless soon become inextricably involved. 

It deserves to be considered that a large majority of the pris¬ 
oners found in the county jails were young negro men between 
twenty and thirty years of age, and generally indicted or con¬ 
victed for petty theft or common assault. No individuals are 
more exposed to crime than those who remain idle and ignorant 
in a civilized community; or, in other words, those individuals 
who whilst touched by the wants and desires of civilization, 
feel none of its restraining influences. 

We have arrived at a state of things in which an individual 
who is positively ignorant is in most respects excluded from the 
great sphere of civilization, and who is the more exposed to 
misery and more liable to be drawn into the snares of crime 
than others who are more firmly linked to society, and upon 
whom, therefore, shame has greater power. In what way, it 
may be asked, is this stream of crime to be restrained? Pro¬ 
vide the negro with moral, religious and primary instruction 
and with work, and then let charity be exercised with wariness 
and discretion. 

CLASSIFICATION OF PRISONERS. 

An important feature in the economy of prisons is to enforce 
a complete classification of prisoners, which should extend to 
age, sex and degrees of criminality. If separation cannot be 
effected by location in distinct buildings, it should, at least, be 
accomplished by divisions in the same building. Prisons for 
convicted persons should be divided into six classes: The first 
for men who are sentenced to hard labor, solitary confinement, 
or lengthened imprisonment; the second class for females in the 
same condition. The next class of prisons may be called houses 
of correction. They should be provided for men sentenced to 
terms of imprisonment not exceeding twelvemonths; females 
committed for similar periods should be qonfined in a fourth 
class of prisons. Two other reformatory prisons, destined 
solely for convicted criminals under the age of eighteen, one 


SECRETARY OF TIIE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


25 


for boys, the other for girls, complete the classification. By 
this arrangement differences of crime are never confounded, the 
sexes are not confined under the same roof, and the young are 
not exposed to contamination from those more advanced in 
crime. 

Persons committed but not yet brought to trial should bo 
placed in prisons of an order quite distinct from those above de¬ 
tailed, and these are again subdivided into two classes—one for 
persons to be brought before the courts for trial, the other for 
witnesses who are to be held, or for persons guilty of minor 
misdemeanors. These prisons need not be so distinct as those 
for convicted criminals, but in all cases the most rigorous sepa¬ 
ration of classes and sexes should be enforced. 

In my tour of inspection I have encountered so many great 
evils in the systems of various institutions, that I feel impelled 
to recommend the propriety of this State following in the lead 
of other Commonwealths and enacting a law providing for the 
appointment of an Inspector of Public Institutions. 

The duties of this official should be to visit twice or oftener 
in each year every charitable, reformatory or other institution 
in the State supported wholly or in part by the public monies, 
to thoroughly inspect and examine them and report the result 
of his investigations to the Governor of the State. lie should 
be empowered to redress all grievances which may come under 
his observation, and should, with that object in view, have free 
access to the records of each institution. 

PBOGRESS OF PAUPERISM. 

The welfare and happiness of every individual mainly depends 
on obedience to a law which is unalterably annexed to his state 
of being. He must rely upon the product of his own industry. 
He must live by the sweat of his brow. Nothing is so gener¬ 
ally dreaded as poverty, since it exposes a man to distresses that 
are but little pitied, and to the contempt of those who may have 
no natural endowments superior to his own. Every other diffi¬ 
culty or danger one can encounter with courage, because he 
knows that bravery is always admired, and that his success will 
meet with applause; but in poverty every virtue is generally 
4 


26 


REPORT OF* THE 


obscured and no course of conduct will probably secure him 
from reproach. The man who can support with courage the 
“proud man’s contumely,” may shrink at the prospect of a pris¬ 
on ; and yet he who can cheerfully feed on the coarsest food 
may be unable to resist the importunate solicitations of hunger. 
Where this is the case, it would be cruel to punish too harshly 
the unhappy wretch who has yielded to such temptations— 
temptations that may be doubled by the multiplied distress of 
seeing a family ready to perish of hunger. In such cases jus¬ 
tice should be executed with less rigor, and the malefactor would 
often be restored to virtue by the hand of mercy stretched out 
to his relief. 

An increase of pauperism is a natural consequence of increase 
of population, but in our country it is beyond that ratio. This 
is partly due to the fact that too often the unprincipled and 
worthless are supplied by the charitable with means of exist¬ 
ence only to become a prey to their vicious inclinations and ap¬ 
petites. 

One of the circumstances that first arrests attention in our 
large cities, is the great prevalence of mendicancy. It is not, 
perhaps, the actual amount of misery existing among the men¬ 
dicant classes, great as that may be, which is most to be depre¬ 
ciated, but the falsehood, the trickery and fraud which become 
part of their profession, and spread by their example. Yice, 
under the garb of wretchedness, often appeals to our sympathies, 
and encouragement is frequently afibrded to the one by the 
relief which is intended to be administered to the other. 

To assume the semblance of misery, in all its most revolting 
varieties, is the business of the mendicant. Ilis success depends 
upon the skill with which he exercises deception. A mass of 
filth, nakedness and misery is constantly moving about, enter¬ 
ing every house, addressing itself to every eye and soliciting 
from every hand. Mendicancy has become too common almost 
to be disgraceful. It is not, in the estimation of these vagrants, 
disreputable to beg, nor to appear wretchedly clothed, nor to be 
without any of the decencies of life. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


27 


TEAM PS. 

There is a class of people now infesting the whole country 
called “Tramps,” with whom mendicancy is a regular and only 
means of subsistence. 

Tramps are to be met with in great numbers on all the coun¬ 
try roads, and are notorious for their thievish and dissolute hab¬ 
its. Unlike the ordinary mendicant, the tramp has no fixed 
habitation, and when darkness overtakes him on his journey, he 
begins to look about him at random for lodging or shelter, which 
he generally obtains on application at the first house that pre¬ 
sents itself. He prefers applying for this accommodation to the 
smaller class of farmers, because the larger landholder is un¬ 
willing to admit him, and only gives him the straw with which 
to make his bed in the barn or stable. The support of this class 
of paupers, therefore, falls principally upon the very person who 
is the least able of all others to afford it, In giving relief or 
shelter to tramps, some persons are doubtless actuated by feel¬ 
ings of charity and commiseration, whilst not a few dare not 
refuse it, from a well grounded dread of incurring the vagrant’s 
resentment. Such vagabondism should engage the earnest at¬ 
tention of the Legislature, and the precedents of antiquity may 
furnish a solution of the problem. 

According to the laws of Solon and Draco, a conviction of 
willful poverty was punished by death. Plato, more gentle in 
his manners, would have them only banished. He calls them 
enemies of the State, and pronounces as a rule, that where there 
are great numbers of mendicants (tramps) fatal revolutions will 
happen; for as these people have nothing to lose they plan op¬ 
portunities to disturb the public repose. Among the Ancient 
Romans, whose universal object was the public prosperity, one 
of the principal occupations of their Censors was to keep a 
watch on the vagabonds; those who were condemned as incor¬ 
rigible sluggards were sent to the mines or made to labor on the 
public edifices. The Romans of that day did not consider the 



28 


REPORT OF THE 



dolce far niente as an occupation; they were convinced that their 
charities were ill-placed in bestowing them upon such men. 
Yet it was not inhumanity that prompted the ancients thus 
severely to chastise idleness; they were impelled to it by a 
strict equity, and it would be doing them injustice to suppose it 
was thus they treated those unfortunate poor whose indigence 
was occasioned by infirmities, by age or by unforseen or un¬ 
avoidable calamities. These were always protected and kindly 
cared for by the public authorities. 

Our modern “tramp” exhibits a state of circumstances in 
which both the folly of idleness as it affects the individual who 
is guilty of it, and the injustice of it as it regards the rest of the 
community are undeniable. It is folly, because the industrious 
portion of society, who are always the most powerful, may 
think it proper to refuse alms which are drawn from the resour¬ 
ces of their own labor, and which the idle and dissolute can 
have no natural right to demand; and it is certainly unjust to 
claim from the hard earned stores which labor and economy 
have collected, even a modicum to ward off the consequences 
which attend on vice and indolence. 

The prosperity of each individual, and of the State, which is 
made up of individuals, is the result of the due observance of 
the conditions of industry imposed on us as part of our state of 
being; they serve, like gravitation in the mechanism of the 
Universe, as the foundation on which our welfare must depend 
for its stability. We are indebted to them for the wealth already 
accumulated and which must be preserved from crumbling into 
dust by the same labor and abstinence by which it has been 
gathered up for our use. 

Under no form of government, under no system of laws, can 
we dispense with an attention to these conditions. In propor¬ 
tion as individuals relax in their observance of them, their well¬ 
being and happiness must be ultimately diminished, and the 
prosperity and strength of the State be impaired. If the num¬ 
ber of individuals living without labor amounted to a large pro¬ 
portion of society, the result would be a general impoverish¬ 
ment, and if they continued to increase, general ruin. Nations 
may perish by other means than the sword of the conqueror: 
they may be extinguished by vice and defects which gradually 
corrode and undermine them, and which it requires great vigi- 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


29 


lance and sagacity to detect, and great courage and resolution 
to eradicate and subdue. 

These defects may originate in laws which are mischievous in 
themselves; in the inculcation of mistaken principles of con¬ 
duct, in the misapplication of wealth, and in bad examples. 
Such causes and many others may combine to corrupt the popu¬ 
lation of a country; to encourage idleness and vice, and to be¬ 
tray the people into abandoning the course marked out for them 
by the laws of nature, which course no one is permitted to 
leave with impunity. 

It is evident that in the past decade of years a change has 
taken place in the habits of many of our people; their industry 
has abated; their love of independence is less conspicuous and 
their reluctance to receive relief from funds collected from the 
rest of the community is less marked. The signs of this change 
and its tendency to increase becomes daily more manifest, and 
the attention of the public and of the State should be fixed on 
these formidable appearances. 

“Tramping” is comparatively a recent institution ; it may be 
termed the aristocracy of beggary. The tramp is a professional 
vagrant who has his regular “beat” in the summer, and in the 
winter seeks refuge in the jails and almshouses; selecting with 
instinctive shrewdness those that are most comfortable and 
cleanly. His vagabond life is anything but the realization of 
that blissful period “when poverty shall be embraced by riches 
and bring forth love.” 

At one of our almshouses (Frederick county) upwards of 
eight thousand of these vagrants were fed and lodged between 
the 1st of October, 1876, and the 1st of March, 1877. With 
this multitude of able-bodied men, fed in idleness at public or 
private expense, very naturally criminal offenses increase and 
the table of arrests will show a most alarming growth of crime. 

Pauperism, when it thus attacks a community, is a disease. 
It spreads rapidly and eats away all the habits of self-support 
and true manhood. The ventures and chances of begging soon 
become a kind of pleasure and excitement, and the vagrant 
spends, seeking for assistance, the time and ability which would 
give him an ample livelihood. 

I entirely concur with the views expressed by my colleague, 
Prof. E. Lloyd Howard, on this subject, in the “First Biennial 


30 


REPORT OF THE 


Report of the State Board of Health.” Dr. Howard says: 
“The only method of meeting this evil lies in the speedy estab¬ 
lishment of the House of Correction, and its being under com¬ 
petent and efficient management.” He regards the inaugura¬ 
tion of this institution as “ the most important measure relative 
to the idle and vicious classes that has occupied the attention of 
the Legislature for many years.” This institution, now in pro¬ 
gress of construction, when completed, will doubtless do much 
to secure the safety of society through the reformation of the 
criminal. Here the vagabond, the delinquent, the petty thief, 
and the chronic drunkard, (that mischievous criminal of whom 
the State takes too little care,) would find a chance to start 
fair once more in the weighted race of life. 












































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SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


31 


CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 

THE MARYLAND HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, 

At Spring Grove , near Catonsville, Md. 

Nothing can exceed the beauty and magnificence of the scen¬ 
ery from this hospital. The spectator who stands upon the 
facade may enjoy a prospect which is rarely to be met with, 
whilst he is fanned by the pure, gentle breeze of the Chesa¬ 
peake, and the sweet warblings of the feathered tribes greet his 
ear in mingled melody. Beneath him is a rich and fertile val¬ 
ley, dotted with handsome villas, and beyond this, upon the 
bosom of the bay, vessels of every description, bearing the en¬ 
signs of all nations, are seen gliding calmly along, while in the 
far distance a varied and most imposing prospect of high lands 
covered with forest trees is distinctly visible. 

The approach to the hospital is over a beautiful rustic bridge, 
by a well-shaded and gravelled road, which also affords a pleas¬ 
ant promenade for patients. The curtilage is extensive and the 
grounds immediately surrounding the building are laid out in 
grass plots, variegated with native and exotic plants, and at all 
times adorned with flowers running their course through the 
seasons. 

The general appearance and arrangement of this vast estab¬ 
lishment may be better understood from the accompanying plate 
and diagram, than from any description that can be furnished. 
The structure is of Maryland granite, three stories high, and 
consists of a centre building 90 feet front, with two wings ex¬ 
tending back 240 feet each, in echelon, so as not to present one 
solid building, uniform in all its parts, but an apparent collec¬ 
tion of houses, united together, yet diversified in appearance 
and varied in character, admitting of a thorough classifica¬ 
tion of the patients. One of the wings is appropriated to the 



32 


REPORT OF THE 


use of the men and contains spacious halls, sitting rooms, par¬ 
lors, dining-rooms, single bed-rooms, associated dormitories, 
bath-rooms, water-closets, &c., &c. The other wing, of the same 
extent and similar construction, is for the female patients. In 
the centre building is contained the superintendent's office, the 
clerk’s office, the apothecary’s office, the general parlor, the offi¬ 
cers’ dining-room and chambers, the library, the billiard-room, 
the chapel, and an amusement-room complete in all its arrange¬ 
ments, where weekly dances, concerts and theatrical perform¬ 
ances are held for the amusement and enjoyment of the pati¬ 
ents. The culinary arrangements are in the rear of the centre 
building, and embrace all the modern improved appliances for 
cooking by steam, &c. The laundry, which is operated by 
steam, and the heating apparatus, are in a separate building 
located at some distance from the main building. The second 
and third floors, which in the wings are duplicates of the first 
floor, are reached by iron stairways that‘Combine neatness, dur¬ 
ability and safety from fire. Throughout the building there are 
water-plugs and hose-pipes, so arranged that each floor can be 
flooded in a few moments in the event of fire. Attached to each 
wing are two large airing courts, where the patients can exer¬ 
cise without the possibility of escape ; there are also bowling- 
alleys, swings, gymnastic arrangements, &c. 

This hospital is intended to accommodate three hundred pa¬ 
tients, and as it is already nearly full to the extent of its capa¬ 
city, and there are still upwards of five hundred indigent insane 
languishing in the various almshouses of the State, additional 
accommodations are required commensurate with the magni¬ 
tude of the wants to be provided for, planned and arranged in 
accordance with modern views upon the management of the 
insane. It is important in the treatment of the insane, to group 
them into families graded by their mental condition, and for 
this purpose, it will soon become necessary for the State to erect 
other buildings in connection with this institution. 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


33 


HISTORY OF THE MARYLAND HOSPITAL. 

This institution was founded in the year 1798, by the State 
of Maryland granting the sum of $8,000 for the purpose of 
erecting a General Hospital. The Mayor and City Council as¬ 
sumed the trusteeship of the charity, and, together with several 
benevolent citizens, donated $18,000 to assist in the erection of 
the buildings. The corporation of Baltimore granted a lease of 
the property in 1808, to Drs. Smith and Mackenzie; who under¬ 
took to enlarge the building to meet the demands of the increas- 
ing population. These gentlemen induced the Legislature of 
1811 to grant the sum of $18,000 for the purpose of increasing 
the capacity of the hospital, which was done, and the hospital 
received a large number of the wounded from the battle of North 
Point, in 1814. 

In 1816 an additional appropriation of $30,000, with the priv¬ 
ilege of raising by lottery $20,000 more, was granted. These 
gentlemen realized from this scheme $60,000, which they con¬ 
tributed to the building of the hospital, making the cost of the 
hospital, up to this period, $154,000. About this time 40 luna¬ 
tics, and 150 patients suffering with general diseases were 
accommodated. 

In 1828 the State of Maryland asserted its claim to the hospital, 
and it was duly turned over to the control of the State by the 
Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. The Legislature then 
vested the control of the hospital in a corporation styled “The 
President and Visitors of the Maryland Hospital,” whose powers, 
however, were suspended until the expiration of the lease of 
Dr. John S. Mackenzie, the sole survivor of the lessees. The 
lease expired in 1834, when the management was assumed by 
the President and Visitors incorporated. The medical duties 
were performed by the voluntary attendance of Drs. Steuart, 
Cohen, Fisher, Mackenzie, Fonerdon and Sexton. Dr. Stokes 
was appointed Resident Physician in 1835, and served one year. 
Dr. Fisher was then elected to fill the vacancy and served ten 


34 


REPORT OF THE 


years. From 1834 to 1840 the number of lunatic patients had 
increased beyond the capacity of the accommodations. Accord¬ 
ingly the Legislature granted the sum of $30,000 for the pur¬ 
pose of extension. It was at the same time provided by the 
Act of the Legislature, that the hospital should be devoted ex¬ 
clusively to the treatment of lunatics. The entire cost of the 
hospital, up to this time, was $184,000. In 1846 Dr. Fonerdon 
was appointed Eesident Physician, after the resignation of Dr. 
Fisher. Dr. Fonerdon served twenty-three years. Dr. Wm. 
Fred’k Steuart was appointed Eesident Physician in 1868—Dr. 
Fonerdon acting as Medical Superintendent. In 1847 a house 
was built for the Medical Superintendent at a cost of $10,000 ; 
also, a lot of three acres of land adjoining the hospital, was pur¬ 
chased at $6,000, making the total cost, up to date of 1847, 
$ 200 , 000 . 

In 1852 an Act was passed by the General Assembly authoriz¬ 
ing the appointment of a Commission to select a site to build a 
new hospital. The following gentlemen were selected: Dr. E. 
S. Steuart, Benj. C. Howard, Eicbard Potts, Washington Du¬ 
vall and Dr. C. Humphreys. 

The Commission selected the site known as “ Spring Grove,” 
near Catonsville, which they purchased for the sum of $14,000; 
of this sum, $12,340 were contributed by citizens of Baltimore, 
and in 1852 the Legislature appropriated $10,000 to complete 
the purchase money and begin the building. The Legislature 
of 1856 appropriated $15,000 to continue the building. In 1858 
another appropriation of $25,000 was granted, in 1859 still an¬ 
other of $25,000, and in 1860 another "of $100,000. Dr. Hum¬ 
phreys having resigned, J. S. Berry was appointed by Governor 
Hicks to supply his place in the Commission. 

The Commissioners proceeded with the work, and at the be¬ 
ginning of the year 1861, had nearly completed the north wing; 
the centre building was also raised to the second floor, and the 
foundation of the south wing laid. The war of the States hav¬ 
ing been inaugurated, the progress of the building was arrested. 
In 1862 a new Commission was appointed by the Legislature, 
consisting of Messrs. J. S'. Berry, Alexander Bandall, Dr. John 
Whitridge, J. Eeese and A. G. Waters. These gentlemen decided 
not to proceed with the building, as material and labor was very 
high. They, therefore, covered in ail the exposed parts of the 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


35 


work, and employed watchmen to protect the premises, for 
which purpose a fifth appropriation of $10,000 was made. The 
construction of the building was thus delayed until 1864, when 
the Legislature made another appropriation of $175,000 to com¬ 
plete the building. By an Act of the General Assembly, ap¬ 
proved March 7th, 1868, Ch. 117, the Commissioners who had 
been removed by the Act of 1862, Ch. 234, approved March 10. 
were reinstated, and on the 22nd of April, 1868, they reorgan¬ 
ized with Dr. B. S. Steuart as President, under the title of 
“President and Board of Visitors of the Maryland Hospital.” 

In 1870 the President and Visitors were authorized to sell the 
old hospital property on Broadway and appropriate the proceeds 
to continue the building in course of construction at Spring 
Grove. The old hospital property was purchased by the late 
Johns Hopkins, for the sum of $133,318.67. 

The Commissioners expended all the money in hand, and an¬ 
ticipating further appropriations from the Legislature, proceeded 
with the work, and so far completed the building that the pati¬ 
ents were transferred from the old hospital to Spring Grove in 
October, 1872. The debt incurred was $330,000, which the Leg 
islature of 1872 provided for by appropriation. This sum, how¬ 
ever, w r as found to be insufficient, and in 1874 the President and 
Board of Visitors petitioned the Legislature for an additional 
appropriation of $53,153.08, to cover an existing deficiency to 
that amount. The patience of the Legislature being at last ex¬ 
hausted, the prayer was not granted, and the President and Visi¬ 
tors, in order to carry on the operations of the hospital, mort¬ 
gaged the property to the extent of $150,000. 

The Legislature of 1876 passed an Act (Chapt. 351) author¬ 
izing the Governor to appoint a new Board of Managers, and 
appropriated the sum of $135,000 to relieve the existing mort¬ 
gage; and a further sum of $15,000 annually for two years, for 
the maintainance of the hospital. The Act further provides, 
(Section 9.) that “The Board of Managers shall provide accom¬ 
modations for at least two hundred and fifty pauper lunatics of 
the State, who may be sent to said hospital for curative treat¬ 
ment, which number shall be, from time to time, apportioned by 
them among the several counties and city of Baltimore, accord¬ 
ing to their respective population, as ascertained by the last 
preceding census.” 


16 


REPORT OF THE 


Section XL—“The Judges of the Circuit Court of the several 
counties, and the Criminal Court of Baltimore city, in accord¬ 
ance with the provisions of the Code, are hereby authorized to 
send, from time to time, to the said hospital, pauper lunatics of 
this State, to the number to which the respective counties and 
city of Baltimore shall respectively be entitled under the Ninth 
Section, aforegoing.” 

The new Board of Managers, consisting of C. W. Chancellor, 
M. D., President, Thos. B. Brown, M. D., Secretary, Ex-Gov. A. 
W. Bradford, Hon. Barnes Compton, Hon. Henry D. Farnandis. 
John W. McCoy, Esq., Francis White, Esq., James McSherry, 
Esq., and L. W. Gunther, Esq., organized and assumed control 
of the institution on the 7th day of July, 1876. Immediately 
after organizing the Board elected Dr. J. S. Conrad Medical Su¬ 
perintendent, and Dr. R. G. B. Broome Assistant Physician. 


GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 

By the exercise of a judicious economy in the general man¬ 
agement of the institution, and aided by their accomplished Su¬ 
perintendent, the Board have been able to reduce the exj>enses 
of the institution nearly forty per cent. The number of pati¬ 
ents has more than doubled, and the records of the institution 
show a gratifying exhibit in the percentage of cured and the de¬ 
creased percentage of death, as compared with previous years. 

Out-door employments, cheerful society, the occasional pres¬ 
ence of friends—and even visitors—healthy recreations and 
amusements, the enjoyment of music and the dance, the care of 
a garden or the cultivation of flowers, have united in improving 
the health and happiness of the inmates. The female inmates 
are mostly employed in needle-work, or such other household 
avocations as are the most agreeable to them. The amount of 
needle-work done has fully supplied all the needs of the institu¬ 
tion in this particular, and keeping the patients thus employed 
has been found to create a quiet in the halls, as well as add 
greatly to their contentment and happiness. 

Every effort to beautify the halls and the rooms of the pati¬ 
ents by adorning them with flowers, birds, &c., is put in practice, 
and it is to be regretted that the means of the institution do not 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 37 

admit of a more liberal distribution of paintings, chromos or en¬ 
gravings upon its walls. There is a good library connected with 
the hospital. 

Whilst the Board have exercised a judicious economy in the 
general management of the institution, they have placed no 
restrictions upon an abundant supply of wholesome and nutri- 
cious food for the inmates; ‘and the cuisine of the establishment 
has been pronounced to be “equal to that of a first-class hotel." 
Indeed, the general appearance of the patients, the striking im¬ 
provement which takes place in many of them in a month or two 
after admission, and the almost entire absence of sickness, may 
be looked upon as so many indications that the diet and regimen 
furnished are conducive to the general health and comfort of the 
patients. By the same means, it is hoped, that they may be 
guarded from many forms of illness, arising from the lowered 
condition of the circulation and other functions which seem to 
belong to every variety of insanity. 

Whenever restraints may become necessary, the most simple 
means are selected. Undivided personal attention has been 
attended with the hapjnest consequences; but in so large an asy- 
lum, with many indigent insane, the means of mental control 
must always be limited, and instances of frantic behavior and 
ferocity are becoming far less frequent. The paroxysms of mania 
to which many of the patients are subject, are passed over with 
less outrage and difficulty, and if cases are yet seen which appear 
for a length of time to baffle all tranquilizing treatment, they 
chiefly, if not exclusively, occur in acute mania, the sy r mptoms 
of which would be exasperated by severe coercion, or among 
those who, having been insane many years, have already been 
subjected to violent restraint. 

The average number of patients under restraint during the 
past year was but two per cent., which is a very gratifying ex¬ 
hibit. There can be no doubt of the fact, that with the insane 
as with the sane the more confidence bestowed the better. 

The patients in this hospital exhibit a degree of contentment 
and happiness seldom met with in similar institutions. The 
grouping together in families, graded by the mental faculties of a 
jlumber of patients, cannot be too highly commended. Those 
who have been removed here from other institutions not possess¬ 
ing the requisite advantages for their treatment, arc loud in ex- 


38 


REPORT OF TIIE 


pressing their gratitude at the change in their physical condi¬ 
tion, and some give evidences of a marked mental improvement. 
Whenever the mind of a patient admits of an advance to a 
“family” of a higher mental grade, the promotion is made, and 
is looked forward to and appreciated by the patient to an extent 
hardly credible. Few instances occur where it is necessary to 
return a patient to a lower grade; but on the contrary, the con¬ 
fidence shown by the promotion stimulates the patient to careful 
behavior, and is frequently followed by further advances, which 
gradually lead to and result in a perfect cure. 

It requires much experience to qualify the best mind for the 
duties of supervising an asylum for the insane. The Board of 
Managers of this hospital have been peculiarly fortunate in 
securing the services of officers not only experienced in their sev¬ 
eral duties, but distinguished for their intelligence, exemplary char¬ 
acters and their devotion to the important trusts confided to them. 


Table showing Whole Number of Patients. 


Pay Patients. 
City “ .. 

County “ 

Total. 


52 
, 89 
90 

,231 


Table showing Whole Number of Inmates by Sexes. 


White Males.118 

11 Females.102 

Colored Males. 6 

“ Females. 5 

Total.231 


Table showing the Number from Maryland. 


White Males.116 

“ Females.-...101 

Colored Males. 6 

“ Females. 5 

Total. 228 


Table showing Number of Indigent Insane. 


White Males. pi 

“ Females. 77 

Colored Males. 6 

11 Females... 5 

Total.179 





























SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


39 


Table showing Duration of Insanity. 


Under 3 months ... 

From 3 Months to 6 I 
•* 1 Year to 2 \ 

u 2 Years to 3 

donths.... 

r ears. . 





t 4 





i l 

3 

• 4 

*‘ 4 

4 4 





i L 

4 

4 4 

“ 5 

< 





( C 

5 

<4 

“ 6 

u 





» « 

6 

4 e 

“ 7 

44 





4 4 

7 

i 4 

“ 8 

( £ 





L. 

8 

u 

“ 9 

« 4 





4 * 

9 

4 4 

“ 10 

« £ 




. 10 

U 

10 

4 < 

‘ £ 11 

4 4 




o 

• i 

11 

u 

“ 12 

ft ft 




. 1 

4 C 

12 

u 

“ 13 

£( 




. 3 

.. 

13 

( 4 

“ 14 

£ £ 




. 3 

i 4 

15 

a 

“ 16 

£( 




. . 3 

* 4 

16 

u 

11 17 

4 4 




. 4 

4 4 

17 

t i 

££ 18 

• ft 




.. 1 

». 

18 

4 4 

u 20 

£ £ 




. 2 

• 4 

20 

4 4 

<l 25 

£« 




. 3 

4 4 

30 

<; 

££ 36 

£t 






Total.231 


Table showing Form of Insanity. 


Acute Mania. 17 

Chronic Mania.109 

Melancholia. 35 

Imbecility. 6 

Epileptic Mania. 18 

General Paresis. 6 

Dementio. 39 

Idiocy. 1 

Total.231 


Table showing Ages of the Insane. 


Under *20 Years. 3 

From 2 o to 25 Years. 15 

‘‘ 25 “ 30 “ 34 

<£ 30 “ 35 “ 38 

•* 35 “ 40 “ 24 

•• 40 “ 45 £ 24 

*‘ 45 “ 5 ) *‘ 31 

* 5 » “ 55 “ 21 

*• 55 * 1 60 4< 16 

“ 6 ) “ 65 “ 9 

“ 65 “ 70 “ 6 

•* 70 “ 80 £ - 6 

80 “ 85 <£ 4 

Total. 231 


* 























































40 


REPORT OF THE 


MOUNT HOPE RETREAT 
For the Insane. 

This is a private institution, and under the instructions from 
Your Excellency I was not called upon to visit it, hut through 
the courtesy of Hr. Stokes, the accomplished Medical Superin¬ 
tendent, I have been permitted to do so, and I now take great 
pleasure in giving a detailed account of the place. It is unques¬ 
tionably one of the best managed establishments of the kind in 
this country; order, system, tidiness and positive kindness are its 
prevailing characteristics, and no one can visit the place without 
being impressed by this fact. 

The institution was incorporated by the State of Maryland in 
the name and title of “ The Sisters of Charity of Mount Hope 
Retreat,” March 2d, 1870, and is owned and conducted by the 
Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s. It originated in October, 
1840, and was started by the Sisters of Charity, who had for 
several years been charged with the care of the insane patients 
at the Maryland Hospital in this city, where they were emi¬ 
nently successful, but from which they withdrew in consequence 
of some disaffection on the part of the Board of Directors; at 
the solicitation of some of the friends of the patients, eight 
females and one male accompanied the Sisters and continued un¬ 
der their guardianship and care; they at first occupied a small 
two-story brick house on Front street, adjoining St. Yincent’s 
Church. Dr. Duker was the first medical attendant. In a few 
months the Sisters purchased a lot, with a frame building, a short 
distance out on the Harford Road, to which they removed, and 
named it Mount St. Vincent. In September, 1842, Dr. Stokes 
was invited to assume the medical charge of the institution. 

The building was not very well adapted to the purpose of a 
hospital for the insane, still it became very popular and was suc¬ 
cessful beyond the most sanguine expectations of the Sisters; it 
was soon overcrowd e 1, and they atoiue saw the necessity of 
















































































































































SECRETARY OF TIIE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


41 


securing a more appropriate situation, with better accommoda¬ 
tions for the patients, and Mount Hope College was purchased 
in April, 1844, from Mr. Treadwell, for $13,000. The name was 
now changed to “Mount Hope Institution;” and the patients 
were removed from Mount St. Vincent in May following. The 
building and dormitories were well adapted to the purpose to 
which it was now devoted. There were several fine springs on 
the land, from which, by means of a water ram, the building 
was well supplied with water. 

Immediately on effecting this purchase, much expense was in¬ 
curred in thoroughly repairing the buildings and in making such 
alterations as were required, in order to adapt it more fully to 
the special purpose of a hospital for the insane. 

The number of patients increased rapidly, and in a few months 
the house became so crowded as to make it necessary to reject 
applications for admittance. 

This unexpected influx of patients, whilst it afforded evidence 
of a degree of public confidence most gratifying and encourag¬ 
ing to the Sisters, pointed also to the necessity of providing 
more extensive accommodations by the erection of additional 
buildings. 

A new wing was erected connecting with the west side of the 
centre and corresponding with the east wing; the centre build- 
ing was materially altered and enlarged, the front carried for¬ 
ward twenty-five feet and raised two stories, surmounted by a 
cupola; the whole interior was entirely remodelled, its capacity 
greatly increased, and all the arrangements and appliances in¬ 
troduced which the enlightened and humane spirit of the age 
deemed essential for the successful treatment of mental diseases. 
The institution was now furnished and fitted up in a style of ele¬ 
gance and comfort unsurpassed by any similar establishment in 
the country, and the surrounding grounds were laid out and 
arranged in a most tasteful and attractive manner. 

In about ten years the crowded condition of the institution, 
and the increasing evidences of the rapid encroachment of the 
city on the privacy of the patients, enforced the necesgity of 
another removal. After careful consideration of the subject, 
and the examination of numerous different sites, it was decided 


6 


42 


REPORT OP TIIE 


to purchase the property between the Liberty Load and the 
Reisterstown Turnpike, known as the “Merideth Tract.” 

This location, six miles from the city, possesses many advan¬ 
tages. It is far removed from the noise and'excitement of the 
city; it is surrounded by fields and forest, and the whole aspect 
is calculated to promote tranquility of mind and to conduce to 
a calm and easy state of the feelings. The plan adopted for the 
new hospital was designed by the architects, Messrs. Long & 
Powell, under suggestions and instructions by the late Father 
Superior of the Sisters of Charity, the Rev. Burlando, and the 
foundation-stone in the new building was laid by him July 2nd, 
1859. The site selected is upon a knoll or hill about 40 feet 
above the main road and about 550 feet above tide; the hill on 
the south side slopes down to a small stream and terminates in 
abroad meadow beyond; on the north is a heavy woodland ; 
the front faces the southeast, and the main entrance is approach¬ 
ed by a wide avenue passing in front of the east wing. The 
new hospital consists of a main building five stories in height, 
with an attic surmounted with a dome, which when complete 
will have an elevation of one hundred and sixty feet from the 
ground, affording a magnificent view of the bay, the city, and 
surrounding country. The main entrance is reached by a flight 
of granite steps, which are surmounted by a heavy and impos¬ 
ing balcony, with massive trusses and rails; beyond the door is 
a vestibule which leads to a hall eighteen feet square, paved 
with black and white marble tiles, and passing thence to the 
main stairway, which is the grand feature of the building. The 
stair hall is 33} by 27} feet, paved like the entrance hall, with 
marble tiles. 

The landings on each story are supported by four handsome 
tinted Corinthian columns, crowned with rich stucco cornices, 
and the whole well lighted from a skylight through the dome. 

The centre building is 77 feet front by 84 feet deep, with a 
back building four stories high, 55 feet 8 inches by 76 feet 8 in¬ 
ches; in the first or basement story, to the right and left of the 
entrance, are two reception rooms 26 by 26 feet, and immedi¬ 
ately adjoining each is a private apartment IS,by 27} feet. 

Back of this suite of rooms and the stairway, and running 
across the building, is the main corridor of communication with 
the wings, 14 feet wide, and beyond this, in the back building. 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


43 


are the departments of the Sisters who have the management 
of the house. 

The kitchen, 22 by 52 feet, extends across the end of the build¬ 
ing, and is furnished with improved arrangements for cooking 
the food which is here prepared for the whole house. Large 
dumb waiters lead from the scullery to the upper stories. 

On the second or principal floor is the drawing-room, 26 by 72 
feet, which is divided into three rooms by folding doors, in which 
the patients meet of evenings to enjoy themselves by dancing or 
other amusements; adjoining is the billiard-room, and on the 
opposite side of the hall are private apartments each 18 by 271 
feet. 

In the third story front are five large, handsome rooms of cor¬ 
responding size to the rooms below, and the same arrangement 
is carried out in the fourth and fifth stories, with the exception 
that in the fifth the corridors, which in the other stories com¬ 
municates with the wings, is here occupied as rooms, each 14 by 
30 feet, and a stairs to the attic story. 

Beyond the corridors in the third story is the Chapel, which 
is octagonal in plan, 45 feet wide; and two stories in height. It 
is lighted by three arch-headed windows on each side, filled with 
enamelled glass, and a handsome stained glass skylight of elab¬ 
orate design and in bright colors, throws a flood of light from 
the centre of the domed ceiling. 

The walls and ceiling are frescoed in a handsome and appro¬ 
priate style; over the entrance is a small gallery for the organ 
and choir, immediately opposite the sanctuary. 

There is a lofty and well-lighted attic over the whole of the 
front building, which is used for lodging or store-rooms as re¬ 
quired. 

The water for the use of the building is pumped up from the 
engine-house to two large iron reservoirs in the attic of the main 
building; in each of the wings, the pipes are so arranged that if 
any repairs are required to one of the reservoirs, the supply will 
be continued from the other to that part of the house; connec¬ 
tions further are made in each story and in different parts of the 
house, to provide against accidents from fire. 

Each wing consists of two sections; these sections have been 
constructed at different periods; the last addition was commen¬ 
ced in October, 1869, and completed in September, 1871. They 


44 


REPORT OF THE 


have all been constructed of the very best materials—the walls 
of Baltimore brick with granite sills, and the interior of well- 
seasoned timber—the floor of the patients’ room and of the cor¬ 
ridors are of pine, and counter-sealed to prevent the transmis¬ 
sion of sound; the corridors on the different floors of the first 
section communicate in a direct line with the corridors of the 
centre. At the extreme end of the first section of each wing, 
there is a transverse building, extending back 48 by 32 feet, and 
five stories high; from this runs the second section 80 by 36 feet, 
four stories high; this is terminated by another transverse build¬ 
ing 68 by 32 feet, five stories high, and there is added to this a 
large oriel or bay window 30 x 20 feet, four stories high, and 
pierced by ten windows on each story. Thus each wing pre¬ 
sents a front of 132 feet; these sections contain each the usual- 
arrangemeut of corridors, sleeping apartments on each side, par¬ 
lor and dining-room for patients on each floor, besides twelve 
single lodging rooms opening on each corridor; there are also 
four large associated dormitories, a room for an attendant, a 
closet for patients’ clothes, a bath-room and water-closet, a scul¬ 
lery, an elevator, and a speaking-tube leading to the kitchen. 

The patients’ private sleeping apartments on each floor are 
twelve in number, and are 9 by 12£ feet; the dimensions of two 
of the associated dormitories are 18 by 12 feet, and of the other 
two 17 by 12 feet, 4 inches; the oriel or bay window is designed 
for the day or sitting-room of the patients; the windows resem¬ 
ble in appearance those in our first-class buildings or dwellings, 
and are placed low enough to make it pleasant to a person sit¬ 
ting in the room to see without; the upper sash is of cast iron 
and is securely fastened into the frame; the lower sash, of pre¬ 
cisely the same size and pattern as the former, is of wood, and 
is heavy, so as to rise and fall throughout its whole extent; the 
space opposite the lower sash is protected by a wrought-iron 
window-guard, of a pattern quite as ornamental and attractive as 
those seen in front of our finest dwellings; the guard is so se¬ 
curely and firmly fastened to-the window frame as to baffle the 
efforts of the most ingenious patients to remove or dislodge it. 

The Sisters attend upon the patients, and, on the male side 
there is also always present a male attendant. At the table spe¬ 
cial pains are taken to make even the most demented observe 
the rules and proprieties of good breeding, whilst at the same 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


45 


time the strictest discipline is maintained, and anything like in¬ 
subordination or excitement is instantly suppressed. 

In addition to the numerous convenient arrangements already 
described, there exists at the extremity of the wings a series of 
rooms for the more noisy and excited class of patients; these 
rooms are as completely isolated as if in a detached building, 
and are so situated as to admit of a prompt removal and a sepa¬ 
ration of the dangerous and turbulent cases from the more tran¬ 
quil and quiet. The windows in some of these apartments are 
at a considerable height above the floor. 

All these arrangements, it will be perceived, are calculated to 
conduce greatly to the comfort and safety of patients, as well as 
the successful management of their disease. An important fea¬ 
ture of the establishment is the facility of classifying patients. 
Classification should grow out of a careful study of each indi¬ 
vidual case; society of some kind will benefit one, temporary 
seclusion another;—if association is best, then the kind of social 
influence must be carefully considered. In order to be able to 
carry these views into practice, a choice of apartments is neces¬ 
sary, and especially of rooms so completely isolated and yet so 
easy of access as to afford an easy separation of the noisy, vio¬ 
lent and demonstrative cases from those more quiet and tran¬ 
quil; the advantage of this arrangement will be appreciated by 
every one familiar with the insane and with institutions devot¬ 
ed to their treatment. 

The hospital buildings are heated by eight furnaces located in 
the basement, which consume about 450 tons of coal in the sea¬ 
son; the present system has operated very satisfactory through 
several winters, maintaining a comfortable, healthful and agree¬ 
able degree of heat in the coldest weather. 

The system of heating is low steam, with Woods’ improve¬ 
ments of Gold’s Patent; ample currents of pure air passing over 
Gold’s patent cast-iron radiators are delivered through large 
flues into the halls and bed-rooms; the ventilation, which is so 
satisfactory, is operated by supplying a continuous flow of pure 
air from without into the building, and, by a peculiar construction 
of discharge pipes, removing it as rapidly as it becomes impure. 

The new laundry is a brick building with granite trimming, 
and is 100 by 50 feet, two stories of fifteen feet each, with a 
tower 15 by 15 feet and 80 feet high. It has a cellar ten feet 


4G 


REPORT OP THE 


high under the entire building for fuel and other purposes. 
Above is an attic story, where immense tanks are placed to sup¬ 
ply the laundry with water, and with arrangements for delug¬ 
ing the building in case of fire. 

From the description here given of the buildings, &c., connected 
with Mount Hope Retreat, no one will fail to perceive that the 
w r ork in all its departments has been faithfully and well done. 
Whatever will confer the greatest amount of good on the pati¬ 
ents, and best promote their happiness and restoration, has evi¬ 
dently been the ruling motive and governing principle of its 
projectors. In the construction of the different buildings it is 
evident that no expense has been spared to bring the asylum up 
to the requirements of the age and to introduce all modern im¬ 
provements ; all attempts at imposing display have been sacri¬ 
ficed for real usefulness, and for solid, substantial and enduring 
comfort and convenience. The care and happiness of the pati¬ 
ents have been the ruling and guiding idea. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males.133 

“ Females.......165 

Colored Males... 1 

•* Females. 3 

Total.302 


Table showing the Number from Maryland. 


White Males.Ill 

“ Females.103 

Colored Males. 1 

11 Females. 3 

Total.218 


Table showing the Number of Indigent Insane. 


White Males.*... 24 

“ Females. 26 

Colored Males. 1 

“ Females. 2 

Total. 53 


























SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


47 


Table showing Form of Insanity of the Indigent Insane. 


Melancholia. 


Homicidal Mania... 

Chronic 

u 

Epileptic 

< ( 

Acute 

a 

Puerperal 
Dementia. 

u 


Total. 53 


Table showing Ages of the Insane. 


From 20 to 25 years 


it 

25 

• < 

30 

* i 

it 

30 

u 

35 

i » 

cc 

35 

u 

40 

n 

l1 

40 

u 

45 

it 

u 

45 

u 

50 

it 

u 

50 

it 

55 

u 

u 

55 

It 

60 

it 

u 

60 

It 

65 

i 4 

i t 

65 

t i 

70 

ii 

L i 

70 

11 

80 

i ft 


Total .. 




8 

9 

5 

8 

8 

5 

4 

2 

2 

1 

1 

53 


The Length of Time they have been Inmates. 


Under 3 Months. 4 

From 3 Months to 6 Months. 4 

* ‘ 6 “ “ 1 Y ear. 11 

1 Year to 2 Years. 12 

2 Years to 3 Years. 1 

3 “ “4 “ 2 

“ 5 “6 “ 3 

“ 6 “ “7 “ 1 

“ 7 *• “ 8 “ 5 

8 • “ 9 “ 1 

“ 9 “ “10 “ 4 

“ 10 “ “ 11 “ . 1 

15 Years. 1 

18 “ . 2 

27 “ . 1 


Total. 


53 













































48 


REPORT OF THE 


THE DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM, 

Frederick , Maryland. 

The Maryland Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, of which 
the foregoing plate is a correct view, is essentially a State Insti¬ 
tution, and is indeed a monument of public beneficence. It 
stands upon a beautiful and healthy eminence to the southwest 
of Frederick city, far enough from other buildings to escape 
noxious odors, and is open on every side to the sunlight and 
mountain air. 

The objects of this institution are benevolent in a high degree. 
Its aim is to raise the intellect from darkness to light, to diffuse 
happiness among hearts locked up indeed, but capable of enjoy¬ 
ing it; to elicit and cherish the spark of genius; to relieve so¬ 
ciety of a burden, and to form useful members of it. The hand 
of benevolence could not be extended to more worthy objects, 
while the eloquence of mute gratitude will be an enduring 
reward. 

The affairs of the institution are managed by a Board of Di¬ 
rectors appointed by the Governor of the State, The depart¬ 
ment of education is conducted by the Principal, Charles W. 
Ely, M. A., assisted by eight instructors. The domestic con¬ 
cerns are under the direction of a matron and a housekeeper; 
and the duties of a steward also engage the attentions of one 
person. 

All the pupils are under constant supervision; and their edu¬ 
cation, physical, intellectual and moral, is continually advancing. 
The boys generally are exercised daily in some mechanical art 
under competent masters; and the girls are employed in work 
appropriate to their sex. 

The building is one of the finest public edifices in the State, 
and is unsurpassed in its appointments by any similar institu¬ 
tion in this country. It has been occupied four years and is in 
most excellent condition. Every room, passage-way and closet 
in the house was found as clean, as light, as well ventilated, and 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


49 


•as comfortable, in every respect, as could be desired. When I 
arrived at the institution it was the hour allotted to recreation, 
and the pupils were joyously sporting in the corridors and play¬ 
rooms. All seemed quite delighted and greeted their principal, 
Mr. Ely, with bright faces and sparkling eyes; indeed he appeared 
like a father among them, and an affectionate one, too, patting 
them on the head and addressing them in their own mute lan¬ 
guage. 

The sanitary arrangements, under the efficient direction of Dr. 
Wm. II. Baltzell, are admirable throughout, and the tenderest 
consideration is vouchsafed to the pupils when sick, though cases 
of sickness are very rare. But few serious cases have occurred 
in eighteen months, and very few during the whole period of the 
occupancy of the new building. 

From a paper published by the principal in The American An¬ 
nals of the Deaf and Dumb , I have extracted the following brief 
description of the house: 

The structure consists of three separate buildings connected by 
simple corridors at the front and rear. The buildings face the 
west and are separated from the street by a lawn two hundred 
and fifty feet deep by six hundred and thirty in width. In the 
rear is a broad play-ground. On the north side stands the old 
barrack now used for shop purposes. The whole enclosure con¬ 
tains about twelve acres. The centre or main building has a 
front of one hundred and fourteen feet and a depth of one hun¬ 
dred and thirty-two feet. The rear portion, which contains the 
dining-room, is forty-eight feet wide. The wings have each a 
front of fifty feet and a depth of one hundred and twenty-four 
feet. The height above the basement is three stories, surmounted 
by three towers, one rising from the centre and one from each 
front corner. The basement course is built of brown stone and 
the superstructure of brick. The balconies and window-caps 
are iron, and the window-sills granite. The main building is 
chiefty for general purposes; the north wing is occupied by the 
boys and the south wing by the girls.. The plan of the main 
floor, which accompanies the engraving, will serve in explaining 
the other floors. The-basement story is thirteen feet in height, 
the first story sixteen, the second fifteen and the third fourteen. 
In the roofs of the wings there are as many rooms as on the 


i 


50 


REPORT OF THE 


floor below, all finished fifteen feet high in the centre, and 
lighted by dormer windows. The main hall, which extends 
across the entire front, is ten feet wide and two hundred and 
sixty-eight feet in length. The central tower, which has an in¬ 
side diameter of twenty-five and a-half feet, contains the princi¬ 
pal stairway having a width of six and a-half feet. There are 
also stairways at the front and rear of each wing and at the rear 
of the main building, all reaching from the highest to the low¬ 
est floor. 

As the wings are substantially alike, it will be sufficient to de¬ 
scribe one—the north or boys’ wing. In the rear of this wing, 
in a projection built for this purpose, are water-closets on the 
basement, first and second floors. 

In the basement, the middle front room is used for heating 
purposes; the others, one for coal and one for storage. On the 
other side of the hall is a servant’s room, and one for the black¬ 
ing of shoes. The large room below the boys’ study is divided 
lengthwise into two—a wash-room and a play-room. The for¬ 
mer, which is nineteen feet by sixty, contains six bath-tubs, 
separated and enclosed. Along one side of the room is a wooden 
trough, furnished with hand-basins, and supplied with water 
from the hydrant. The play-room is twenty-nine feet by sixty. 

On the second floor, above the housekeeper’s room, is a teach¬ 
er’s room. The next two are the private rooms of the steward. 
Opposite the teacher’s room is a bath-room. The room adjoin¬ 
ing the dormitory and opening into it is used for assorting cloth¬ 
ing. The dormitory is in all respects like the room below. 

On the third floor is a teacher’s room, located as on the second 
floor. The next two are hospital rooms, and taken from the 
hall, as in the other wing, is a bath-room for hospital use. The 
room adjoining the dormitory, and opening into it, is occupied 
by the assistant steward or supervisor. The smallest boys sleep 
in this dormitory. 

The rooms upon the fourth floor are all finished, but assigned 
to no special use. 

The corridors which connect the wings with the main build¬ 
ing on the front terminate with the second story. There is no 
connection on the third floor. The corridors which connect the 
building at the rear arc only one story in height. They are 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


51 


built of wood, are supported upon pillars, and connect the first 
floor. This allows plenty of sunlight and air in the courts. 

The house is abundantly lighted, and well ventilated. These 
features are especially worthy of notice. Nearly all the rooms 
have windows upon two sides, opposite or adjacent. 

The long main hall is well lighted from the windows of the 
corridors on both sides of the main building, as well as from the 
windows at the ends. 

Eooms upon the front of the building are ventilated by means 
of the chimney flues; the others partly by chimney flues and 
parti } 7 by ventilating stacks, which are placed at the side of the 
wings, midway on the court side. There is one similarly situa¬ 
ted on the south side of the main building, with which the 
kitchen range connects. The ventilating tubes or ducts connect 
with the shafts upon the. fourth floor. 

The building is lighted by gas from the city gas-works. 

The institution is supplied w T ith the purest water from the city 
reservoir. In the attic of the main building is a large iron tank, 
which is filled by a steam-pump in the basement. In the rear of 
each wing there is a tank on the third floor, filled from the cen¬ 
tral one. The aggregate capacity is about three thousand gal¬ 
lons. From each tank descends a large iron pipe, and on each 
floor there is a fire-plug, and a good supply of hose always in 
readiness. 

The building is heated by steam from four upright cast-iron 
boilers, with independent connections. Two are placed in the 
main building and one in each wing. There is a fifth boiler in 
the main building to be used in emergencies. Direct radiators 
are placed in all the halls. The rooms receive heat from regis¬ 
ters in the wall, the supply coming from benches of radiators 
in the basement, which are closely boxed and supplied with cold 
air directly from the outside through openings in the basement 
walls. 

The laundry is too small by half, and if the kitchen could be 
on the same floor with the dining-room, it would economize 
labor and make supervision easier, besides keeping the house 
more free from kitchen odors. 

The same text-books are used here as in ordinary schools, the 
primary object being to teach the English language; the pupils 
become good scholars in geography, history, arithmetic, gram- 


52 


REPORT OF THE 


mar, &c. In conversation and in the class-room the sign lan¬ 
guage is generally employed, but special instruction is given, 
with wonderful success, to about one-third of the pupils in the 
articulation of words and in lip reading. Many become profi¬ 
cient and are able to carry on a conversation in the ordinary 
way, speaking viva-voce , and readily understanding by the mo¬ 
tion of the lips what is said to them. 

The possibility of conveying instruction to the minds of the 
deaf and dumb began to be distinctly asserted in the 16th cen¬ 
tury. Budolphus Agricola, of Groningen, mentioned that he 
had himself witnessed a person deaf from infancy and conse¬ 
quently dumb, who had learned to understand writing, and, as 
if possessed of speech, was able to note down his thoughts. 
This statement was called in question; but the theoretical prin¬ 
ciples on which the art rests were discovered and promulgated 
by the learned Jerome Cardan, of the University of Pavia, who 
died in 1576. Cardan thus expressed himself: “Writing is asso¬ 
ciated with speech, and speech with thought, but written char¬ 
acters and ideas may be connected together without the inter¬ 
vention of sounds, as in hieroglyphic characters.” 

Pedro de Ponce, a monk of the Order of St. Benedict, in 
Spain, who died in 1584, is stated to have been the first, or at 
least the most noted among the early practical instructors of the 
deaf and dumb. About forty years after the death of Ponce, 
John Paul Bonet, another Spaniard, to whom is attributed the 
merit of being the inventor of the one-handed alphabet, pub¬ 
lished a book on the subject. During the time of Bonet, the art 
was also making some progress in Italy. In England, John 
Bulwer’s name must stand prior to that of any other individual 
as an author on the subject, and his views, as given in “Philoeo- 
phus,” are sound and practical. 

The Abbe de 1’ Epee, who was born at Versailles in 1712, holds 
a high rank among the friends and instructors of the deaf and 
dumb. Previous to his time, and during it, the art of teaching 
those laboring under this calamity was pursued more as a cun¬ 
ning craft for the benefit of a few individuals, who carefully con¬ 
cealed their mode of operations, than as a means of enabling 
men to alleviate one of the many natural evils to which our 
race is liable. The Abbe de V Epee brought to the work a dis¬ 
interested benevolence, an ingenious frankness, and a patient per- 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 53 

severance, which elevated the art into a profession honorable in 
itself, calculated to enlist men’s sympathies and to extend the 
will and the power of rescuing from mental oblivion those de¬ 
prived of the usual means of communicating with their fellows. 

The Abbe’s attention was directed to the education of the 
deaf and dumb by an incidental circumstance. Business took 
him one day to a house where he found two j 7 oung women, 
who were busily engaged in needle-work. He spoke to them 
repeatedly but received no answer. The mother arrived and 
explained to him the cause of their silence, by informing him 
that they were both deaf and dumb. A kind ecclesiastic named 
Yanin had tried to educate them by means of pictures, but after 
his death they were neglected. “Believing,” says the Abbe, 
“ that these two children would live and die in ignorance of their 
religion if I did not attemj)t some means of instructing them, I 
was touched with compassion and told the mother that she might 
send them daily to my house, and that I would do whatever I 
might find possible for them. 

M de 1’ Epee recollected that when he was about sixteen years 
of age, his tutor, in a conversation, had proven to him, that 
there is no more natural connection between ideas and the sounds 
by which they are expressed to the ear, than between these 
same ideas and the written characters by which they are ex¬ 
pressed to the eye. Thus, take any particular word, say water 
or fire ;—the American who hears these words spoken, or sees 
them in writing or in print, immediately associates the words 
with the things themselves, but to a foreigner ignorant of our 
language, they convey no meaning whatever. If ideas can be 
conveyed to the mind independently of sight and of sound, it 
follows that the blind can be taught to read with theil* fingers 
and the deaf and dumb to speak by their hands and to hear with 
their eyes. On this ground-work, M. de 1’ Epee commenced and 
devoted himself to the task of teaching the deaf and dumb. 
Some people thought him a fool for his pains, and ridiculed his 
labors, others pitied the infatuation of the good-natured enthu¬ 
siast, vainly, as they imagined, trying to get access to minds 
.shut up in prison. But neither sneers nor pity stopped the 
labors of the worthy Abbe. At last public opinion began to 
change, and in his old age, and when the effects of his labors 
were too conspicuous to be reviled, he received both approba- 


54 


REPORT OF THE 


tion and flattery. The ambassador of Catharine of Russia of¬ 
fered him rich presents. “My lord,” said the Abbe, “I never 
receive gold; tell Her Majesty, that if my labors have claimed 
her esteem, all that I ask is that she will send me a deaf and 
dumb person or a master to he instructed in this art of teach¬ 
ing.” When the Emperor Joseph of Austria visited his institu¬ 
tion and offered him an Abbey, he said: “I am already old; if 
Your Majesty wishes well to the deaf and dumb, it is not on my 
head, already bending to the tomb, that the benefit must fall, it 
is on the work itself. 

M de 1’Epee died on the 23d of December, 1789. Various 
honors were paid to his memory. The King’s preacher pro¬ 
nounced his funeral oration; and one of his deaf and dumb pu¬ 
pils wrote a distich to be placed under the bust of his teacher: 

“ II revele a la fois secrets merveilleux 
De parler par les mains, d’entendre par les yeiix.” 

The whole number of pupils admitted since the opening of 
the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Frederick, has been one hundred 
and seventy-eight, and the number in attendance at this time is 
one hundred and five, two-thirds being males. The annual per 
capita cost is two hundred and eighty-five dollars. The indigent 
are received, maintained and educated free of cost; but those 
who are pecuniarily able to pay are charged one hundred and 
fifty dollars per annum, which covers all expenses except 
clothing. 




SECRETARY' OF TIIE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


55 




TABLE A. 

Showing the Causes of Deafness, as Reported, by Parents and 

Guardians . 


CAUSE. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

Accident..... 

2 

1 

Q 

Cholera Infantum. 

1 


1 

o 

Cold. 


2 

Congenital.... 

32 

20 

1 

52 

2 

1 

8 

4 

Croup..... 

1 

Diphtheria.. . 


1 

Fall. 

5 

3 

Fever. 

2 

2 

u Catarrhal... 

1 

2 

3 

u Brain........ 

*7 

2 

9 

11 Scarlet.... 

24 

10 

34 

11 Typhoid . 

6 

1 

7 

Gathering in Head...... 

2 

1 

o 

Inflammation of Ear.. 

1 


1 

Panda,nnm in Infancy. 


1 

1 

Meningitis—Ordinary.... 


1 

1 

u Cereho Spinal... 

2 


2 

11 Tubercular... 


1 

1 

Paralysis........ 


1 

1 

Rheumatism—Inflammatory..... 


1 

1 

Si ek ness.. 

3 

2 

5 

Spasms.... 

3 

1 

4 

Teething... 

1 

1 

Va.e.r.i nation. 

1 


1 

Water op Brain.. . 

5 


5 

Whooping Cough..... 

2 

1 

3 

Unknown ..... 

4 


4 

I Tn reported.. 

14 

3 

17 



Total. 

119 

58 

177 























































50 


REPORT OF THE 


TABLE B. 

Showing the Age at which Deafness occurred. 


AGE. 


Congenital. 

Under one year of age 


Over one 

and under 

two 

years 

two 

t. 

three 

11 

£i three 

u 

four 

< < 

“ four 

u 

five 

ii 

• 1 five 

u 

six 

4 C 

41 six 

U 

seven 

£ £ 

‘ 4 seven 

c i 

eight 

4 4 

■ 1 eight 

4 4 

nine 

4 4 

i£ nine 

i i 

ten 

a 

11 ten 

4 4 

eleven 

t £ 

u eleven 

cc 

twelve 

4 C 

1 i twelve 

u 

thirteen 

(i 


Unreported. 


Total 


Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

32 

20 

52 

13 

4 

17 

16 

7 

23 

15 

6 

21 

9 

8 

17 

3 

4 

9 

3 

1 

4 

6 

1 

7 

2 


2 

1 

1 

2 

1 


1 

1 

1 

2 

2 


2 

13 

5 

18 

119 

58 

177 


TABLE C. 


Showing Number of Pupils Admitted , Discharged and Remaining, 

up to April lsf, 1877. 
























































































































a gnitfie ‘ehiO —i 

Snffiia 'jrmffiO -.!i 





MARYLAND INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND. 


Baker 


tntry PaWries 




Porch 


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Porch 


Musk 


rx 


ox 




T 


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□ thee 


vx\t 




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J.Crawiord Ne\\sot\ 
Q.xcYvt 


F3LA3KT OF FF.I3STOIFA.31, FLOOR. 


A—Girls' Sitting Room. C—Boys' Sitting Room. E—Music Room. G—Matron's Parlor. 
B—Officers’ Dining Room. D—Sitting Room. F—Sewing Room. H—Reception Room. 



































































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


57 


MARYLAND INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION 
OF THE BLIND. 

The Maryland Institute for the Instruction of the Blind is 
located on the county side of Boundary avenue, between North 
and Calvert streets, Baltimore. The site is one of the most de¬ 
sirable and attractive of any around the city. The grounds 
contain about five acres and are handsomely laid out. The 
building is 140 feet front by 60 feet deep, with a back building 
60 by 40 feet. It has four stories above the basement, includ¬ 
ing the mansard, and is capable of accommodating one hundred 
pupils. The building, which was completed in 1868, at a cost of 
$145,000, is constructed of native marble, and presents a hand¬ 
some and imposing appearance. 

The institution is as its title indicates, purely educational, and 
embraces three departments of instruction—academic, musical 
and technical. The academical department includes the studies 
usually pursued in our public schools. Much importance is 
attached to music, and the instruction in this branch' is very 
thorough. The technical teaching is confined to trades best 
adapted to the blind, such as piano forte tuning, mattress, and 
broom making, chair caning, sewing, knitting and the use of the 
sewing machine. 

There are at present fifty pupils in the institution—twenty- 
four males and tw^enty-six females. Of this number forty-one 
are beneficiaries of the State, who are admitted for a term of 
from three to eight years, in the discretion of the Governor. 

The general hygiene of the institution is good; the building 
is well warmed and ventilated by a low pressure steam heating 
apparatus, which is placed in the basement of the main building. 
The cold air is conducted to the heating surfaces by large ’wooden 
boxes, and after passing over the heating surfaces is admitted 
into the rooms and halls abowe by means of registers in the 
walls. With the present number of inmates the dormitories 
and class-rooms contain about 800 cubic feet to the occupant. 
The schools are so arranged that the classes are in session fifty 
8 



58 


REPORT OF THE 


minutes to the hour. The other ten minutes being spent by the 
pupils in the open air when the weather will permit. The cov¬ 
ered porches connected with each floor make this arrangement 
very effective. The dietary of the institution, while not extrav¬ 
agant, is liberal and the food is well prepared. The blind, and 
indeed all classes of defectives, require plenty of good, whole¬ 
some food. 

The water-closets are placed in the north-west and north-east 
corners of the main building, with the exception of those con¬ 
nected with the infirmaries, which are in the centre of the 
house; their construction is defective and should be altered. 
With an average of fifty inmates there have been but four deaths 
since the occupancy of this building in 1868. Three from natu¬ 
ral causes and one from accident. During this period of nine 
years few cases of sickness have occurred and no epidemic has 
prevailed. The vital force of the blind has been estimated as 
being twenty per cent, less than that of persons possessing all 
their faculties. 

The workshops for the male pupils are in the basement of the 
main building. This arrangement is objectionable and is regard¬ 
ed as temporary. Workshops have been opened at No. 130 
North Howard street, where industrious blind mechanics may 
find employment at fair wages. Many are unable, from want 
of capital and business tact, to establish a business for them¬ 
selves, and, by reason of their defective sight, find it almost im¬ 
possible to obtain employment in shops with workmen who can 
see; hence the necessity for the Avorkshops on Howard street. 
A graduate of this institution has never been known to solicit 
alms on the street. 

A suitable building should be erected in connection with the 
institution for shop purposes. A gymnasium is also much need¬ 
ed for the pupils in inclement weather. These matters have not 
escaped the notice of those in charge of the institution, but they 
have lacked the means to carry out their views. 

The water and gas used in the institution are supplied by the 
city waterworks and the Baltimore Gaslight Company. 

The cost of maintainance per capita per annum, is $291.42, 
which does not include repairs and improvements. There are 
nine teachers and officers, and nine other employees in the insti¬ 
tution, all under the superin'e ldcnce of Dr. F. D. Morrison. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARH OF HEALTH. 



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60 


REPORT OF THE 


INSTITUTION FOE COLOEED BLIND AND DEAF 
MUTES. 

In the year 1872 an application was made to the General As,- 
sembly, for an appropriation to establish a separate Institution 
for the Instruction of the Colored Blind and Deaf-Mutes in this 
State. The existing and well-founded prejudice against the 
reception and care of this class of children, in the institutions 
established for the use of white children, had prevented them 
from receiving that protection and attention to w T hich they were 
justly entitled. It was clearly the duty of the State to make 
suitable provision for all thus afflicted; and the promptness w T ith 
which the aid was given when asked, indicated that the public 
appreciated this cause, and was ready to furnish the desired 
relief. In view of this existing necessity, it was deemed proper 
by the Directors of “The Maryland Institution for the Instruc¬ 
tion of the Blind,” and of “The Maryland Institution for the 
Education of the Deaf and Dumb,” that they should inaugurate 
this movement; and they accordingly delegated three directors 
fi'om each institution to organize the new institution, and apply 
to the Legislature for'the necessary aid. In response to this 
request, an appropriation of $10,000 was made for the year 1872, 
and of $10,000 for the year 1873, which enabled the committee 
to purchase the desirable building No. 92 Broadway, now occu¬ 
pied by the institution, and to obtain all the other necessary 
working materials. The School was opened in the month of 
October, 1872, and the total number of pupils received during 
the first year, was 18, of whom 8 were deaf-mutes, and 10 were 
blind. During the years 1874 and 1875, the number had in¬ 
creased to 31, which was the full capacity of the building, and 
it was found impossible to comfortably accommodate any more 
or want of room. This necessity for greater, accommodation 
induced, the directors to erect an additional building, during the 
past year, at a cost^of about $6,000, which is in every respect 
admirably well adapted to the use intended. The work per- 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


61 


formed is similar to that of the parent institutions for white 
children, and is with a special view to the future welfare and 
support of the inmates. 

In addition to the ordinary education given in the school¬ 
room, instruction is also furnished to those who are capable, in 
broom-making and other mechanical employments, from which 
some revenue is derived towards the support of the institution. 

The institution is under the charge of Dr. F. D. Morrison, 
(Superintendent,) who has devoted much time and earnest atten¬ 
tion to the development of the purpose for which it was organ¬ 
ized. 


62 


REPORT OF THE 


REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 


ST MARY’S INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS, 

Of the City of Baltimore. 

On the termination of the war in the year 1865, Most Rev. 
Archbishop Spalding saw the necessity of establishing a protec¬ 
torate for destitute boys who had been bereft of their parents 
by the late destructive war, He knew that an institution of 
that kind would be of the utmost importance, not only to the 
interest of humanity, but to the peace of society. How many 
boys are left unprovided for, by the death of parents? What 
would become of them if the hand of charity was not extended 
to them? It is a work of great charity to protect homeless 
children, who are not criminals, but in danger of being so, from 
the habits of reckless and intemperate parents; for such objects 
and purposes a corporation was formed April 9th, 1865, under 
the title of “St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, of the City 
of Baltimore,” which is controlled by a Board of twenty-four Di¬ 
rectors. 

Forty acres of land were at first rented from Mrs. Emily Mc- 
Tavish, at a cost of six hundred dollars per annum, on the Mai¬ 
den Choice Boad, near Baltimore. The land was uncultivated 
and covered by an under-growth, springing from the stumps of 
trees formerly cut dowm. The prospect was by no means en¬ 
couraging, but on account of the site being excellent and of its 
easy access to the city, the trustees were induced to select this 
place for their protectorate. As soon as a part of the land had 
been cleared, a frame building was erected op it, two stories 
high. The first boy entered the institution October 3d, 1866 ; 
in a short time the number was increased to forty-five, all that 
the capacity of the temporary structure would admit. The 


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SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


63 


house was placed under the care of the Xaverian Brothers, who 
have devoted themselves faithfully to the discharge of their 
respective duties. The discipline is paternal, each boy is made 
to understand that the correction or admonition given is for his 
own good. The working of the institution proved satisfactory, 
and Mrs. Emily McTavish, hearing of the good that was effected 
by this noble work of charity, bequeathed one hundred acres of 
land to Martin John Spalding, for St. Mary’s Industrial School. 
The necessity of a new building became evident, as no more 
boys could be accommodated. The trustees in 1867 concluded 
to erect a building of hammered stone, one hundred and thirty - 
six feet front, sixty-six feet deep and five stories high. The 
work on the new building was pushed forward with great en¬ 
ergy under the superintendence of the Treasurer, in connection 
with, and under the advice of the Executive Committee, to 
whom he was to report at stated times. In little more than a 
year the building was completed, and the inmates transferred 
to it on the 15th day of August, 1868. The total cost of the 
building was $58,436. The entire cost and expenses to 1868 
amounted to $81,436, which had been realized from the follow¬ 
ing sources: From the Archdiocese of Baltimore, $66,436; from 
the State of Maryland, $10,000; from the City Council of Balti¬ 
more, $5,000. 

The Board of Trustees had to incur considerable expense in 
the introduction of trades and mechanical branches; but in this 
outlay they had in view the benefit that would accrue to the 
boys, even should it result in a loss to the institution. They are 
gradually gaining the experience necessary to the proper man¬ 
agement of such an immense institution, and a more perfect 
knowledge of their duties will crown their efforts with success. 

Under the former amended charter the judges and magistrates 
had no legal right to commit boys to the institution for offenses 
against the law; hence St. Mary’s Industrial School, for want of 
legal authority, could not render to the State the services that it 
was originally intended it should, as a Reformatory Institution. 

Section 1, of the former charter, was repealed and re-enacted 
as follows: The Board of Trustees are hereby made and consti¬ 
tuted a body corporate, by the name and style of “St. Mary’s 
Industrial School for Boys, of the City of Baltimore,” lor the 
objects and with the power and authority set forth in the origi- 


REPORT OF THE 


f>4 


nal act of incorporation, hereinbefore referred to, and particu¬ 
larly to receive in charge such orphans and other destitute boys 
as may be committed to the charge of said body corporate, and 
to bind out such boys until they shall attain the age of twenty- 
one years; and any court or magistrate of this State shall have 
the power and authority, in the discretion of the judge of such 
court, or of such magistrate, to commit to the charge of said in¬ 
stitution, any destitute white boy, or any white boy convicted 
before such court or magistrate of any offence against any law 
or laws of the State; provided that the parent or other guardian 
of said boy or boys shall request that they be committed to the 
St. Mary’s Industrial School; that in all such cases the Board of 
Managers shall have power, in their discretion, to take into said 
institution white boys under sixteen years of age, as shall be 
taken up and committed as street beggars or vagrants, or shall 
be convicted of criminal offences. 

Section 3d was also repealed and re-enacted, so that the State 
should have three representatives in the Board of Trustees, as 
well as the city of Baltimore, appointed respectively by the Gov¬ 
ernor of the State and the Mayor of the city. 

Up to the present time the number of boys admitted is seven 
hundred. Of that number, some have become of age, some are 
bound out to farmers and some returned to their parents; the 
number of boys in the institution at present is two hundred and 
eighty-six, at a cost of ninety dollars for each boy per annum. 

The boys are taught all the branches of a sound English edu¬ 
cation, their morals strictly guarded, and they are trained to 
industry by being employed during half their time in agricul¬ 
tural and mechanical occupations; the division of study and labor 
is regulated according to the seasons of the year by the Super¬ 
intendent, who reports regularly to the Executive Committee. 
No boy is apprenticed until he is competently instructed in the 
two above named departments, and his consent first obtained. 

Trades are useful as a means of training boys to habits of in¬ 
dustry; the practical knowledge acquired in the work-shop con¬ 
tributes to their prosperity, and usefulness in the active pur¬ 
suits of life. 

The work on the farm and in the garden is done by the boys, 
who are directed by a man capable of carrying on the work 
properly. The trustees have already witnessed the happy fruits 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 65 

of their labors, in the training of the boys. The printing office 
and the shoe factory are now in charge of young men who have 
learned their trades in the institution. Boys engaged in mak¬ 
ing shoes by hand, are instructed by a competent shoemaker. 
Some are engaged in carpentery, tailoring, baking, cooking, 
washing, mending, &c. 

There are several of the boys who by their industry and ex¬ 
actitude deserve, from time to time, a sum of money for over¬ 
work, which is placed to their credit in the Savings Bank. 
This feature works admirably, and tends to stimulate them in 
their efforts to perform their duties in a zealous manner. 

The corporation has in contemplation the introduction of new 
branches of mechanical labor in its scheme of instruction, which 
will be of great benefit to its pupils, hut which involve a con¬ 
siderable outlay of capital, in the construction of workshops 
and the purchase of necessary implements and material. The 
assurance, that it will suffer no loss from the support of boys 
legally committed to it, will enable its trustees to undertake 
these desirable improvements without hesitation or delay. 

The institution is at present burthened with a debt of $9,522.- 
53, which greatly impairs its usefulness, and was largely incur¬ 
red through its failure to receive the benefits of the compensa¬ 
tion awarded to it, for its services to the city in 1875—the pay¬ 
ment of the appropriation then made having been enjoined by 
certain taxpayers, and the injunction sustained by the Court, on 
the technical ground, that the appropriation was in form of a 
gift, and not, as it was in fact, a payment for services rendered 
and expenses incurred. 

The object of the Reformatory is to impress on the mind of 
juvenile delinquents the evils arising from wicked associates; 
and to instruct them in the necessity of acquiring those virtues 
which would enlighten them in the duties they owe to God and 
society, that they may become sensible of the impropriety of 
their former conduct. An enlightened conscience, directed by 
moral training, is the best guide of human acts. Another grand 
object attained is that through the kinkness and care of the 
Brothers the institution has become a substitute for the family 
circle. 

St. Mary's Industrial .School does not bear the character of a 


9 


REPORT OP THE 


66 

penal institution. It is free from that servile fear which fre¬ 
quently dooms its victims to despair and crime. There are no 
prison walls, no fence to prevent egress; the boys appreciate 
their home and look upon it as a great blessing. 

The Yisiting Committee of the State and City, year after 
year, have made favorable reports of the institution, always 
recommending it as highly deserving of the patronage of the 
State and City of Baltimore, and I fully concur in the following 
Report of the Grand Jury to the Judge of the Criminal Court of 
the City of Baltimore, made on January 8th, 1877: 

“The St. Mary’s Industrial School, another institution in which our city has a 
large representation, and which therefore claims attention, was visited. And here 
system, warmth, health-producing and health sustaining influences w r ere found. 
The inmates seem contented. The dormitories, arranged in large, open rooms, 
well ventilated, yet sufficiently warmed, presented a comfortable and cleanly ap¬ 
pearance. This and other humane and Reformatory Institutions in our midst, 
though little known to the public at large, go on year by year, under the provi¬ 
dence of God, doing their work of charity and general beneficence. The good 
achieved by them is immeasurable.’’ 

The trustees fully appreciate the great interest hitherto taken 
by the Legislature and City Council, in generously contributing 
to the success of the undertaking, and they will do well to con¬ 
tinue their appropriations and thereby foster an institution 
whose reformatory services have been appreciated and com¬ 
mended by the officials both of the State of Maryland and the 
City of Baltimore. 

TABLE I. 

Exhibits the Number of Boys Employed. 


Shoe Factory.. 

Printing Office. 

Tailor Shop. 

Garden and Farm. 

Bake House. 

Kitchen. 

Dormitories. 

Bath Rooms and Halls. 

Dining Hall. , 

Painiing and Whitewrashing, 

Fngine Rooms. 

Laundry. 

Hand Shoe Shop. 

Porters... 

Infirmary. 


28 

13 

23 

19 

4 

4 
9 
9 

5 
2 
2 

12 

25 

2 

1 



















SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


(>7 


TABLE IT. 

Shows tho Number of Boys received in the Years 1S75 and 187(1; 

how Committed , dkn., die. 


Number of boys present Deo. 3J, 1875 . 

Of which number there are vet present : 
Committed by Magistrates and Courts of Baltimore 

Received otherwise . . 

Returned to their parents on Ticket of Leave. 

Bound out. 

Released. 

I 'ied.. 

Of age. ... 

Left on their own accord. 

Taken home by their parents. 


Number of boys received in 187G : 

Committed by Magistrates . . . 90 

Committed by Criminal Court of Baltimore. 3 


Of which there are yet present. 77 

Returned to parents on Ticket of Leave... 7 

Released by Judges. 4 

Died. 1 

Left, on their own accord. 4 


— 93 

24 

1C, 

8 


Now present: 

Boys committed. 

Boys not committed 


24 

.... 197 
.. . 64 

- 261 


Received not committed . 

Whereof there are yet present 
Taken Home. 


.... 190 

120 

48 

2 

I 

*7 

r. 

5 

10 

— 116 


TABLE III. 

Shows the Nativity and Ages of the Boys received, in 187G. 


Nativity : 

United States 

Ireland. 

Wales. 

Ages : 

Seven . 

Eight.. 

Nine.. 

Ten. 

Eleven. 

Twelve. 

Thirteen.. 

Fourteen. 

Fifteen. 

Sixteen. 

Seventeen.. 

Eighteen . 


114 

2 

1 


10 

H 

( 

10 

7 

22 

12 

15 

16 
7 
5 
1 
5 


117 





























































63 


REPORT OF THE 


THE HOUSE OF REFUGE, 

Near Baltimore. 

There is probably no institution in the State so faulty in con¬ 
struction and so illy adapted to the purposes for which it is used 
as the House of Refuge. The prison-like wall which surrounds it 
and the jail-like appearance of the building are far from being in 
accordance with an enlightened idea of a reformatory institution 
in the nineteenth century. Its whole surroundings, as well as 
its gloomy interior, cannot fail to be extremely objectionable to 
the visitor, and to impress the youthful inmates very unpleas¬ 
antly. Cold and cheerless brick floors, dungeon-like cells on 
gloomy corridors, are not, in this age, considered the best means 
of transforming wayward youth into useful citizens. When 
this institution is placed in comparison with either St. Mary’s 
Industrial School or the House of Reformation for Colored 
Children, it is found vastly inferior in its structural arrange¬ 
ments to either of them. 

As regards the jail-like wall which surrounds the building: 
this the managers allege is necessary, first, to prevent escapes, 
and, secondly, to hinder irregular and too frequent intercourse 
between the inmates and the outside world. This argument is 
fallacious. St. Mary’s Industrial School, just across the road, 
Las no wall around it and yet out of three hundred and thirteen 
inmates received and remaining in the institution during 1876 
but nine escaped, less than three per cent, of the whole number. 
While here, out of four hundred and five inmates twenty-two 
have escaped during the same time, nearly six per cent, of the 
whole number of inmates. If this institution is too .near the 
city let it be at once removed ; boys to be reformed should not 
be imprisoned. 

There are three or four associated dormitories in this institu¬ 
tion, but a very large majority of the boys are confined in iso¬ 
lated, gloomy cells, locked in, and in the event of a fire, escape 
would be almost impossible. 

The influence which these miserable apartments must have 
upon lads of tender years needs no comment. In addition 



* 











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SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. (>!) 


to the bud influence, morally, of these cells, the brick or con¬ 
crete floors, and clammy, damp surroundings, are calculated to 
have an injurious effect, physically, by laying the foundation for 
rheumatism, pulmonary and other diseases. 

The discipline of the house is excellent, and the place is kept 
cleanly and in good order. The superintendent, Dr. Leas, de¬ 
serves much credit for the able manner in which he manages 
the establishment; no one could accomplish more than he has 
done under the circumstances. The boys are employed at shoe, 
broom, and basket making, and attend to the domestic duties of 
the house. The smaller ones are instructed in sewing, and 
manufacture all the clothing and linen used. All are instructed 
in the rudiments of education, and some in music. Their food 
is good and abundant. The privy arrangement is very bad ; it 
consists of open sheds, where the boy is compelled to expose 
himself while obeying the call of nature, which tends, in a 
measure, to destroy a proper sense of delicacy, and cannot fail 
to be degrading and immoral in its influences. The bathing ar¬ 
rangements are also very defective 

The following statistics will prove interesting: 


TABLE I. 

Showing the Number Receioed and, Discharged , and the genera ’ 
state of the Institution, for the year ending December 31, 187b. 


In House December 31, 1875. 260 

Committed since. 88 

Leave of Absence—returned. 21 

Leave of Absence—returned voluntarily... 4 

Escaped, and returned voluntarily. 6 

Escaped, recaptured. 1*2 


Violated Parole of Honor—returned voluntarily. 2 

Violated Parole of Honor—recaptured. 2 

Returned after beiug indentured.. 7 

Returned voluntarily after being indentured... 3 

4 5 


Discharged. 12 

Allowed leave of absence. 02 

Indentured. 3 

Violated Parole of Honor. 6 

Escaped. 22 

Rejected. 7 

Died. 2 


144 


Remaining in House December 31, 1876 


261 























70 


REPORT OF THE 


Of the 88 boys received in 1876, there were committed by the 
United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of Georgia. 
2 ; by the Criminal Court of Baltimore City, 2; by the Justices 
of the Peace, 84. 

Of the above number, 2 were received from Baltimore County ; 
1 from Harford ; 3 from Anne Arundel; 1 from Montgomery ; 
1 from Howard; 1 from Allegany; 3 from Frederick, and 1 
from Kent Counties. 

The whole number of minors received into the Refuge since 
its opening, December 5th, 1855, is 2,688. 

TABLE II. 

Showing the offences for which boys were committed in 1876. 


Incorrigible conduct.,. 62 

Vagrancy . S 

Vicious conduct.... 5 

Larceny. 10 

Robbing U. S. Mail. i> 

Robbery. 1 















* ♦— 




































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


71 


HOUSE OF REFORMATION AND INSTRUCTION FOR 
COLORED CHILDREN. 

This institution, the first of the kind ever established, is lo¬ 
cated at Cheltenham, Prince George County, Md., on the line of 
the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. It has now been in suc¬ 
cessful operation four years, and the Board of Managers in their 
last annual report say that “They are happy to know that the 
institution is doing a good work in receiving, training and in¬ 
structing the colored children committed to their care.” 

The necessity of such an institution grew out of the vicissi¬ 
tudes which public events have occasioned in the last fifteen 
years. It could not be expected that the negro would emerge 
naked in mind from a condition of slavery and place himself 
either with regard to habits of industry or moral cultivation on 
a level with the more polished portion of society, without ex¬ 
ample and assistance; these have been wisely supplied by this 
institution where colored children are trained in habits of civ¬ 
ilization, and instead of being thrown friendless upon the world 
are after a certain time provided with suitable situations and 
put in the way of becoming useful citizens. The more culti¬ 
vated the intellects of these people become, the less will vicious 
excitements be necessary to them, and the less will their politi¬ 
cal rights be instruments of mischief. This truth is becoming 
generally admitted and its conviction must continue to force its 
way into the minds of all thinking men whatever their political 
views may be. This institution is conducted on what is known 
as the “Family System,” the principal feature of which is, that 
of dividing the inmates into families, thereby giving what is 
most desirable in a reformatory, perfect classification. The 
grounds have been laid out and the building designed with spe¬ 
cial reference to the requirements of this feature. They are of 
Romanesque design, built in a plain but substantial manner. 
The principal or administration building contains the officers’ 
room, reception room, store rooms, and superintendent’s apart- 



72 


REPORT OF THE 


ments in one wing, and in the other the dining room, chapel, 
bakery and laundry. They are all arranged with due regard 
to the conveniences and comfort of each department. The fam¬ 
ily buildings are located about two hundred feet from the ad¬ 
ministration building and the same distance from each other, 
fronting upon a spacious play ground. The basement story of 
each is fitted up with lavatory and bath rooms, a room for 
recreation in inclement weather, also work shops and store 
rooms. The principal floor has a school room 31x36 feet, a room 
for convalescents, and four lodges for isolated confinement. The 
second floor has two dormitories 31x36 feet each and the officers’ 
sleeping rooms; the latter so located as to enable the officer on 
duty to supervise the occupants of both dormitories. The en¬ 
tire buildings are so arranged as to admit of an abundance of 
light and a thorough system of ventilation has been applied to 
all the rooms, especially the school rooms and dormitories. 

Abundant and excellent hospital accommodations have re¬ 
cently been provided, which admit of the classification of the 
patients and a perfect segregation of those laboring under differ¬ 
ent diseases. The hospital is several hundred yards distant 
from, the other buildings. All the buildings are supplied with 
pure spring water which is forced into a tank in the roof of the 
main building and from there distributed to the various 
apartments. The location of the departments is such as to 
give the superintendent full and ready supervision of the whole. 
The buildings, it will be seen, embrace the requisite provisions 
lor security, employment, instruction and separation from con¬ 
taminating associations. The utmost economy has been con¬ 
sulted throughout, and the managers never forgetting that it 
was their first duty to advance the object committed to their 
care, have been careful at the same time neither to incur nor 
permit any expense which could be spared without detriment 
to the principal design. The buildings are substantial and 
plain, the furniture simple and cheap, and the arrangements for 
the conduct of the house are upon a scale as reduced as prac¬ 
ticable. 

The cost of the main building was $35,000, and the three 
family buildings were completed and furnished at a cost of 
$15,000 each The farm which was donated by a philanthropic 
citizen of Baltimore, contains about eight hundred acres a por- 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


73 


tion of which is tilled by the inmates, and has jdelded encour¬ 
agingly good crops. 

If the theory of this institution be perfectly understood, there 
is little danger that its practical effects will not force themselves 
into notice. The number of inmates have increased with a 
rapidity which threatens to be greatly disproportionate to the 
means for their support and instruction; there are now one 
hundred and eighty-six boys in the institution, and the man¬ 
agers say “a greater number cannot be conveniently accommo¬ 
dated in the present buildings.” There is also great need of out¬ 
houses, such as barns and stables, and of a large amount of fen¬ 
cing, but as the treasury is exhausted the Board of Managers will 
be forced to appeal to the State and to the city for further aid. 

The institution certainly deserves to enjoy a wider and more 
substantial recognition of its value and importance than it has 
yet received. That good effects have already flowed from it 
cannot be doubted ; and it is equally certain that the care and 
attention bestowed upon the inmates, together with some en¬ 
couragement to do well, will in the future save many who would 
otherwise—sooner or later—be immured in some prison and 
become worse than lost to society. It is to be hoped that the 
Legislature and City Council will evince the same liberal spirit 
towards this undertaking which has always characterized them 
when any worthy object has been presented for their support. 

The following tables are taken from the report of the efficient 
Superintendent General John W. Horn. 

Xamber Received and Discharged d.uring year ending Nov. 30, 1876. 


In House at close of Year. 

Received . 

“ Boarders.. 

Total. 

Indentured. 

Absent without leave.. 

with “ .. 

Discharged. 

11 to Parents. 

* Expiration of Sentence 

Sent to Hospital. 

Died. 

Total....,. 

Remaining in House. 

10 


212 


86 


















74 


REPORT OF THE 


By Whom Committed. 


Criminal Court for Baltimore City. 14 

Circuit Court for Howard County.. 4 

£ * ‘ £ Frederick ££ 2 

“ “ • Prince George’s County. 1 

“ Worcester County. 3 

£: “ Carroll 1 

“ ,£ Wicomico ,£ 1 

£t “ Anne Arundel Co. 1 

££ ££ Alleghany County. 1 

££ *• Talbot £ * 1 

“ 11 Baltimore “ 1 

U. S Circuit Court for District of Georgia. 3 

££ £ ‘ £ ‘ Louisiana. 1 

Justices of the Peace for Baltimore City. 65 

“ ‘ £ t£ Washington County . 3 

<£ ££ £ ‘ Frederick £ ‘ 1 

l£ ££ ££ Anne Arundel ££ 1 

* £ “ “ Baltimore £ ‘ 1 

Total. 105 


Offences for wh ich Com m itted. 


Incorrigible. 31 

Vagrancy.. 28 

Larceny. 23 

Stealing. 1 

Burglary . 4 

Stealing from U. S. Mail. 4 

Assault with a Brick. 1 

Arson. 1 

Vicious Conduct. 12 


Supposed Ages when Received. 


1 Years.. 2 

8 “ . 1 

9 “ 5 

10 ££ . 11 

11 “ 5 

12 ££ 15 

13 ££ 12 

14 ££ 15 

15 4£ 14 

16 ‘ £ .. 12 

17 ‘ £ 9 

18 “ 4 



















































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


75 


Xitivity of Those, Received. 


Baltimore City. 

Other parts of Maryland 

Connecticut. 

Pennsylvania.. 

Virginia. 

Kentucky. 

New York . 

Georgia. ... 

Louisiana. 

West Indies.... 

Unknown. 


40 

44 

1 

3 

5 

1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 


Ed ucational A ft a in menis. 


Did not know Alphabet 
Knew Alphabet only.. . 
Beginning to Spell.. 


Could Read easy Lessons_ 

“ u Books generally. 

li u and Write. 

u Cypher in Addition ... 

1 11 u Subtraction 

u u u Division. ... 

u 11 11 Fractions... 


32 

18 

20 

20 

11 

24 

15 

18 

2 

1 

1 































76 


REPORT OF THE 


STATE PRISONS. 


THE PENITENTIARY. 

The Maryland State Prison is located near the heart of the 
City of Baltimore. The visitor comes upon the building almost 
without seeing it, and notwithstanding its great magnitude 
might pass it without much notice. The only part visible is a 
wall of great height and length, without decorations of any 
sort. The place seems well adapted for its purpose, viz : the 
compulsory expiation of crime. 

After reaching the Warden’s office and dwelling, through an 
arched gateway in the front wall, up a flight of steps which 
come close down upon the streei, some time more is required to 
get at the gate of the prison ; through this gate the visitor is 
admitted by an attendant into a large court yard, in which all 
is silent, without any appearance of guards. This yard is sur¬ 
rounded on every side by work-shops and dormitories. The 
large increase of inmates in the past few years has rendered 
increased accommodations necessary, and a new dormitory is 
now in process of construction on the South side of the prison 
yard, under the supervision and direction of the intelligent 
Warden, Mr. Thomas S. Wilkinson, which when completed will 
accommodate about two hundred prisoners. 

The number of prisoners in custody at the time of my visit 
was nearly eight hundred, and it is quite apparent that the 
present buildings and grounds, embracing an area of about 
four acres, are inadequate for such a population. The interest 
of the State, and the protection of the health of the city against 
any epidemic that might arise in this already over-crowded 
institution, suggest that measures should be speedily inaugurated 
to remove it outside the limits of the city, where more space 
and purer air can be had. The site of the present House of 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


i t 

Refuge would be an admirable location for the Penitentiary ; 
and the existing buildings of that institution, which are wholly 
unsuitable for the object for which they were designed, could 
be utilized, in a measure, for the purposes of a Penitentiary ; 
indeed, the cold, damp halls, the long, narrow corridors, the 
gloomy, iron-grated cells, and the high inclosing walls of the 
House of Refuge present a prison-like appearance more in keep¬ 
ing with the requirements of a Penitentiary for hardened crim¬ 
inals, than of a reformatory for tender youth. 

Alter a cursory view of the grounds and the outside appear¬ 
ance of the various buildings, I was conducted by the Warden 
to the men’s dining room, as it was then the dinner hour. 
About 700 men were present, and had it not been for the mo¬ 
notonous sound of the spoons upon the tin plates, such was the 
silence that one might have heard the dropping of the sand in 
an hour-glass. The prisoners looked healthy and well cared 
for. Their food was unexceptionable; the day’s dinner con¬ 
sisted of soup, beef' potatoes and mountains of excellent bread, 
divided into portions and placed at each plate. A few of the 
prisoners were restricted to simply bread and water, as a pun¬ 
ishment for some misconduct. The female dining room pre^ 
sented the same appearance of neatness and good order. 

After dinner I visited various work-shops, where I found the 
men, who had marched to and from the dining room with the 
rapidity and regularity of a military evolution, employed in all 
kinds of work. The same silence was maintained, and with 
scarcely one exception, not a head was raised in the slightest 
degree from the work. In the shops, as well as in all parts of 
the prison where the convicts are at work, guards dressed in 
blue uniforms with revolvers concealed beneath their coats, stood 
about with arms crossed, as silent as their prisoners and still 
more motionless. 

The dormitories are large vaulted halls with long corridors 
on either side upon which open the cells. Iron bedsteads about 
two feet in width and rather more than six feet in length, fur¬ 
nished with mattresses, sheets and blankets constituted the 
furniture of the cells. Many of the prisoners seem to cultivate 
a taste for esthetics and had adorned the walls of their cells 
with such pictures as coifld be had. The cells generally are 
models of good taste and neatness. Some of the most trust- 


78 


REPORT OF THE 


worthy and best behaved prisoners are allowed to have a light 
in their cells and read until the retiring bell is struck, when all 
lights, except those on the corridors, are extinguished. Guards 
walk the corridors throughout the night. 

The ventilation of the dormitories and cells is excellent; there 
was no prison odor, notwithstanding the large number confined 
in a small area, indeed every place and everything about the 
entire establishment was scrupulously clean, and while there is 
no mistaken humanity, all is done that can be done to promote 
the comfort of the inmate and to alleviate his captivity. 

The sanitary regulations of the prison are extremely good, 
though comprising nothing more than cleanliness, ventilation 
and employment. There are excellent hospital arrangements 
for the sick. The physician’s report shows that there were 
only sixteen deaths among the inmates during the year 1876, 
which, considering the crowded condition of the institution, is a 
very small per centum. Among the deaths above referred to, 
were four insane men, who, according to the statement of the 
physician in charge, had been in close confinement for years. 
The recent action of Your Excellency in granting provisional 
pardons to this class of prisoners in order that they may be 
treated in the State Insane Asylum, is certainly very humane 
and wise under the circumstances, but proper provision could 
and should be made for their care within the prison walls, as 
some of the insane in the State Asylum are very sensitive about 
being forced into companionship with convicted felons. 

The value of education in preventing crime is strongly at¬ 
tested in the fact that out of the 766 prisoners confined in the 
Penitentiary at the close of the year ending November 30th, 
1876, four hundred and nine were wholly illiterate, three hun¬ 
dred and fifty-one had only the rudiments of an education, 
while only six of all the prisoners had received a good education. 
It is impossible to form an exact inference, without more posi¬ 
tive data of the relative numbers of the educated and uneduca¬ 
ted out of prison; but unless the uneducated portion of the 
population in the State predominates greatly, the above facts 
show that a smaller proportion of the educated commit crimes 
than of the ignorant. 

The moral training of the prisoners is not neglected. There 
is a Sabbath School in successful operation, and teachers from 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


71> 


every denomination are permitted to co-operate in this work ; 
religious services are also held every Sabbath in the Chapel, 
when ministers from some of the denominations discourse to 
the prisoners and seek to impress them with the importance of 
reforming their lives. 

The financial condition of the institution is most gratifying ; 
it is not only self-sustaining but pays a surplus to the State. 
Altogether it may be pronounced the perfection of a public in¬ 
stitution, in striking contrast with most other prisons in the 
State. 

Warden Wilkinson certainly deserves the highest commenda¬ 
tion for his systematic, humane and efficient management. 

The following tables are taken from the annual report of the 
President and Directors of the Penitentiary for the year ending 
November 30th, 1876. 


TABLE No. 1, 

Showing the Number of Prisoners Rechived and Discharged from 
December lsf, 1875, to November 30 th, 1876, inclusive . 


Number of prisoners remaining in prison November 30th 1875. 687 

Received from December 1st, 1875. to November 30th. 1876 inclusive.... 326 


1,013 


Discharged by expiration of sentence. . 20*2 

Pardoned by the Governor.. 29 

Died during the fiscal year ending November 30th, 1876.. 16 

Remaining in prison November 30th, 1876. 766 


1,013 


Of the 326 received during the year.126 are white males. 

177 “ black 
1 is a white female. 
22 are black females. 


Of the 326 received during the rear. 280 were of the 1st conviction. 

38 •• 2d 

6 ♦'< “ 3d *• 

I was 1 ‘ 4th *• 

1 “ •* 7th 

The highest number in prison during the year was 766; the lowest number 

687 ; the average number, 726, and the average number under contract, 485. 



















80 


REPORT OF THE 


Recapitulation of Prisoners for the past Sixteen Years , Showing the 
Number of Prisoners Remaining in Prison at the close of each 
Fiscal Year , and the Number of Whites and Colored. 


Years. 

Whtte 

Males. 

White 

Females. 

Colored 

Males. 

Colored 

Females. 

Total. 

1861 

264 

12 

77 

9 

363 

1862 

245 

15 

76 

13 

349 

1863 

277 

1*2 

95 

27 

41 1 

1864 

244 

14 

92 

37 

389 

1865 

223 

15 

138 

57 

432 

1866 

295 

11 

258 

72 

636 

18C7 

284 

7 

315 

73 

679 

1868 

2 • G 

2 

346 

65 

629 

1869 

*21 

5 

408 

53 

687 

1870 

210 

7 

399 

53 

669 

1871 

2 3 

6 

408 

52 

669 

1872 

no 

5 

371 

52 

598 

1873 

211 

6 

361 

36 

6 ! 4 

1874 

219 

9 

367 

42 

637 

1875 

237 

8 

411 

31 

687 

1876 

273 

t 

7 

452 

34 

. 766 


TABLE No. 2, 

Showing the Different Crimes and the Number Committing each 

Crime. 


Arson.. 

Assault with intent to rape. 

Assault with intent to rob. 

Attempt to poison. 

Accessory to robbery. 

Assault and burning. 

Assault with intent to murder. 

Burglarv and assault with intent to 

kill .. 

Burglary. 

Burglary and larceny. 

Buggery . 

Defrauding United States.. 

False pretences . 

Felony. 

Forgery . 

Forging pension claims . . 

Horse stealing. .. 

Illegal voting. 

Killing a mare . 


17 

20 

0 

I 

I 


35 


'0 

56 

8 

I 

1 

5 

8 

5 

I 

17 

1 

1 


Larceny ..405 

Larcenv and arson. I 

Manslaughter. 12 

Murder in the first degree. 8 

Murder in the second degree. 28 

Murder .*. t) 

Obstructing railroad track . 3 

Perjury.. 5 

Passing counterfeit mone\. 2 

Producing Abortion. \ 

Robbery . 18 

Rape. 21 

Rob! ing United States Mail. 2 

Receiving stolen goods. 5 

Rogues and vagabonds. 3 

Stealing. 47 

Uttering forged checks. i 


766 












































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


81 


TABLE No. 3. 

Showing the Age of Prisoners at Time of Conviction. 


Between 12 and 20 years. 112 

20 *• 25 “ . . 241 

25 “ 30 “ .161 

30 “ 35 “ . 64 

35 “ 40 “ . 68 

40 “ 45 *• . .... 41 

45 “50 “ . 22 


Between 50 and 55 years. 13 

55 “ 60 ’ “ . 15 

60 “ 65 “ 5 

65 «' 15 “ 6 


166 


TABLE No. 4. 

Showing the County or Court from which the Prisoners were Sent. 


Allegany countv . 33 

Anne Arundel county. 36 

Baltimore. 82 

Baltimore city. 219 

Cecil county. 24 

Caroline county.. f 8 

Carroll £ * 6 

Calvert “ 6 

Charles “ 8 

Dorchester “ 24 

Frederick “ 30 

Garrett “ 3 

Howard “ 25 

Harford 18 


Kent county. 13 

Montgomery county. ‘29 

Prince George’s “ . 21 

Queen Anne’s “ 14 

St. Mary’s “ 9 

Somerset “ 31 

Talbot “ . .... 11 

Washington “ 21 

Worcester “ 11 

Wicomico * . 

United States Court. 


166 


r 


r 


ii 











































82 


REPORT OP THE 


COUNTY INSTITUTIONS. 


ALLEGHANY COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This institution is located about one mile from the city of 

Cumberland and consists of a farm of about-acres upon 

which are two buildings. The principal one is of brick, two 
stories high, eighty feet long by twenty deep with ceilings eight 
feet high. A portico extends the whole length of the front. 
The building is divided by a passage-way six feet wide extend¬ 
ing from front to rear from which are steps leading to the upper 
floor. The Superintendent with his family occupies one end of 
this building; the balance is used by the white inmates. A 
small frame building in the immediate neighborhood is reserved 
for colored people. 

The interior of both buildings presented a very dirty appear¬ 
ance, and evidences of great neglect were everywhere apparent. 
The floors were filthy and seemed not to have been scrubbed 
for some time ; the walls needed scraping and white washing 
badly, and the bedding, especially that of the sick, was unclean, 
and so scanty as scarcely to protect the patient’s body from the 
iron slats beneath. There was an entire lack of attention to the 
commonest comforts. Some of the more intelligent among the 
inmates looked out for themselves, as far as their strength and 
intelligence permitted. One boisterous woman ruled the do¬ 
mestic department by dint of her superior strength and great 
power in the use of her tongue, exaggerated by the impaired 
state of her mind. Opposition to her will was not wise on the 
part of any inmate. 

The sane and insane were indiscriminately associated without 
proper means of separating the sexes. Most of the insane were 
harmless. One colored girl, an epileptic, of feeble mind, had 
three children with her, two of whom had been born in the 
Almshouse; the youngest an infant of six months, was un¬ 
doubtedly the child of a white man. 



SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


83 


In answer to the question “have any insane even been cured 
at this Almshouse ?” the Superintendent replied “none within 
my recollection.” The most excitable and violent cases are 
sent to the Frederick County Almshouse, Mt. Hope Ketreat, or 
the Maryland State Hospital for treatment. They report at 
this time nine at Mt. Hope, three at the State Hospital, nine 
at Monteview, which, with the twelve now at the Almshouse, 
makes a total of thirty-three insane for this count}'. 

JYo. of Insane in Almshouse. 


White Males. 6 

“ Females. 5 

Colored “ 1 

_ I 

Total. 12 


Form of Insanity in Almshouse. 


Imbecility. 4 

Chronic Mania. 4 

Dementia. 1 

Epilepsey. 2 

Melancholia. 1 


Total. 12 


Ages of Insane in Almshouse. 


From 20 to 25 years. 1 

“ 25 “30 “ . 1 

“ 30 “ 35 “ 2 

“ 35 “ 40 “ 3 

*• 40 “45 “ 1 

“ 45 “ 50. 4< .•'. 1 

“ 55 “ 60 “ 1 

< £ 60 “ 65 “ 1 

“ 65 “ 70 “ 1 

Total. 12 


Li njth of Time Insane have been in Almshouse. 


Less than one year. 1 

From one to two years .;.... 

u five u six “ . 2 

“ seven “ eight “ . 1 

*• nine “ ten “ 1 

“ eleven “ twelve “ i 

Over eighteen years . 1 

‘ twenty one years. 

Total. 12 










































84 


REPORT OF THE 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Allegany County , in Vari¬ 
ous Institutions. 



ALLEGHANY JAIL. 

This is a newly constructed two story brick building with a 
basement floor; the front part being occupied by the Sheriff as 
a residence. Upon the first floor and the basement are corri¬ 
dors 36 feet long by 14 feet wide with ceilings eight feet high. 
The cells which open upon these corridors are small rooms pro¬ 
vided each with narrow windows near the roof. Each cell con¬ 
tains a water closet which may be an excellent arrangement for 
the comfort of the prisoner, but in a sanitary point of view 
must prove a nuisance that will ultimately have to be removed. 
Indeed the air of this new prison was already more impure than 
many built years ago without regard to sanitaiy laws. There 
were excellent provisions for bathing, a feature not often found 
in like institutions. The prison is surrounded by a high brick 
wall enclosing a court yaid for the exercise of prisoners. 


































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


85 


ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This place is indeed an abode of misery. It is located six 
miles from Annapolis on the banks of South River, a beautiful 
stream that empties into the bay near by. The principal house, 
48 feet front by 36 feet wide, two stories and basement, is occu¬ 
pied by the keeper and his family and the white paupers. It is 
an old brick mansion, built probably in colonial times. In addi¬ 
tion to this antique structure there is a wooden pavillion, com¬ 
paratively new, for the accommodation of the colored paupers, 
about one hundred yards distant from the main building. The 
keeper and his family are comfortably quartered on the first 
floor of the main building, while the white inmates dwell to- 
A getherin unrestrained concubinage on the upper or second floor. 
One insane woman aged about forty, I was told by the keeper, 
had borne three children in the house all begotten by inmates. 
These innocents had fortunately been sent to an Orphan A.sylum, 
and it is well perhaps that the benighted mother has not rea¬ 
son enough left to measure the scope of her own misfortune. 

The upper floor of this building is divided by passage ways 
and partitions into six rooms, one of which in addition to the 
entire first floor is used by the keeper. These rooms are occu¬ 
pied by the inmates as follows: No. 1, 12x15x10 feet with two 
windows is occupied by one man—James Boyle—a robust and 
healthy imbecile 37 years of age, who has been an inmate since 
January. No. 2 adjoining No. 1 and somewhat larger is occu¬ 
pied by three women—one is an insane epileptic about 40 
years of age and 14 years an inmate of the house. Her 
mental faculties are far too weak to control her moral or 
physical conduct, and in the absence of a proper guardian¬ 
ship she has yielded to lecherous instincts with the results 
already mentioned. Room No. 4 is the same cubic dimen¬ 
sions as No. 1 and only differs from it in having three win¬ 
dows. It accommodates two very intelligent old men whose 
respectable bearing indicates that they have “seen beetter days.” 
Opposite this room is'No. 3 which is ostensibly occupied by a 


86 


REPORT OF THE 


young man said to be 30 years of age. He was absent at the 
time of my visit, but is represented to have sought misery in 
this establishment whilst suffering with “chills and fever.” 
Boom Ho. 5, a small cut off from one of the passages is the 
apartment of one James Lewis, aged about 50 years, an inmate 
for 10 years and hopelessly insane. His erratic conversation 
and inveighings against the coarse food and general discomforts 
of the establishment seemed a source of great amusement to the 
keeper, though after viewing the house in all its imperfections 
of management one might be pardoned lor believing that there 
was some “method in his madness.” 

The basement is used principally for storage of fuel and for 
kitchen and laundry purposes; but there are also two lodging 
rooms adjoining the kitchen, one occupied by two old men and 
the other by an idiotic colored girl, Hannah Taylor, about 25 
years of age. In this house there was another female inmate of 
weak mind, Matilda Foreman, aged 65, who attended the child¬ 
ren of the keeper and lodged on the first floor. In reviewing 
the apartments of the white inmates I cannot recall the slightest 
tidiness^ in any one of them. The walls in each room and pas¬ 
sage were noticeably black and dirty, the furniture amounted 
to nothing. There was not in any room a bed or pillow fit for 
use, and such as were found were disgustingly filthy. Most of 
the so-called beds had no sheets, some had one and the blankets 
appeared soiled and unclean. 

The negro quarters if possible were even worse than those 
occupied by the whites. Every room was in a disorderly and 
dirty condition, the beds were filthy, and without sheets or 
pillows; indeed in several of the rooms there were no beds, 
nothing but soiled blankets lying in disorder on the unscrubbed 
and unswept floors. In one room a very ill man was found 
lying on the floor with a single blanket above him groaning and 
sobbing in physical agony. In this department there were six 
males and one female. One of the males—John Thomas—50 
years of age, 5 years in the almshouse, is insane of chronic 
mania; three others, George Gassaway, Wm. Harvey and Wm. 
Jones, are idiotic and deformed. Another, Perry Harvey, 50 
years of age, is an epileptic who sometimes becomes violent and 
homicidal; nine years ago in one of his paroxysms of anger he 
killed his mother; he has been 5 years in the house. The 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 87 

woman, Susan Beard, is an imbecile 80 years of age and has 
been 16 years in the house. The only care these poor creatures 
receive is from the weak minded white man, James Boyle, who 
has not intelligence enough to appreciate their wants nor energy 
enough to supply them. 

As almshouses are intended in most cases as homes for the 
poor and decrepid there certainly should be some pretention to 
cleanliness and comfort about them; the walls and ceilings of 
the several rooms or dormitories should be scraped and white¬ 
washed once in the year at least and kept clean and well sup¬ 
plied with fresh air; there should be two rooms, one for the 
men and another for the women, set apart for sick inmates. It 
seems too that every consideration of health, cleanliness and 
economy requires that each inmate should be provided with at 
least two good blankets, two pillow slips and two pairs of sheets, 
one for daily use and one for change while washing. Besides 
being uncleanly it is wasteful to deprive inmates of sheets, the 
use of which saves the washing and consequent wear of blankets. 
There are 10 acres of land connected with the institution, a 
part of which is cultivated as a garden spot and yields a supply 
of vegetables for the house. The principal dietary supply how¬ 
ever is the fish, oysters and crabs taken from South river by 
such of the inmates as are able to fish and dredge. The aggre¬ 
gate cost of maintaining the inmates is $3000 annually or a per 
capita cost of nearly $175 and yet not a comfort or convenience, 
beyond such as are usually afforded to caged wild beasts, was to 
be found about the premises. In addition to the paupers in the 
almshouse the county supports 140 out paupers at a cost of 
$3000 additional, making the total annual expenditure for the 
poor $6000. The institution is under the control of a Board of 
Trustees appointed by the County Commissioners. 

Table showing Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males ... 

“ Females... 
Colored Males.... 
“ • Females 

Total. 


5 

3 

7 

2 

17 









88 


REPORT OF THE 


Whole Number of Insane. 


White Males. 2 

u Females. 2 

Colored “ 1 

u Males.-. .•••••••••••••IN *••••• 6 

Total. 11 


Form of Insanity in Almshouse. 


Imbecility. 

Epilepsey. 

Chronic Mania 
Idiocy. 

Total. 


3 
2 
2 

4 


11 


Ayes of Insane in Almshouse. 


From 20 to 25 ^ears... 2 

“ 25 ‘ 30 “ “ . I 

35 “ 40 *• 3 

* 45 50 ‘‘ 3 

65 “ 1 

!“0 “ ... 1 

Total. II 


Length of Time in Almshouse. 


Under one year. 1 

From one to two \ ears. 2 

two to three *• . 1 

*‘ four to five u . 4 

ten “ . I 

fourteen years.. 1 

sixteen “ I 

Total. 11 


Number of Indigent Insane from Anne Arundel County in Differ¬ 
ent Institutions. 









































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


89 


ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison is located in the city of Annapolis, not far distant 
from the State House. It is a very old three-story brick build¬ 
ing. The first story is arranged in the ordinary way as a resi¬ 
dence in front for the jailor, with two cells in the rear for the 
confinement of prisoners ; one of these cells however is not used 
for jail purposes, being totally unfit, but it is appropriated for 
storage purposes. There are four cells in each of the other 
floors warmed by stoves. The inside of the cells is sheathed 
with oak plank from one to two inches thick, and covered with 
many coats of whitewash. The building is faulty in construc¬ 
tion and so insecure that it is found necessary in many instances 
to hopple the prisoners, even those awaiting trial, to prevent 
their escape. It has no conveniences, a bucket for privy use, a 
stone water pitcher, and a filthy blanket for each inmate com¬ 
prise the only articles of furniture in the cells. The prisoners 
w r ere found standing or sitting or lying on the floor. In the 
halls upon which the cells open there is gas and water supplied 
from the city works. There were forty-four prisoners in cus¬ 
tody ; thirty-eight awaiting trial, one colored for murder, three 
white for burglary, one colored for burglary—all tbe others for 
minor offences, principally illegal dredging. Six of the forty-four 
bad been convicted; one a white man for larceny, two negroes 
for shop-lifting and two for attempted rapes. They will be 
sent to tbe penitentiary to serve out tbeir respective sentences. 
There was only one female prisoner, and she occupied a cell on 
the lower floor, entirely separated from the male prisoners 
above. In nearly all the cells overcrowding is apparent and 
the necessary amount of cubit; space is not allowed to each pris¬ 
oner. Cell No. 5 on the second floor, with a dimension of 1,600 
cubic feet contained twmlve prisoners, being less than 140 cubic 
feet of air for each occupant. In tbe prisons of British India 
600 cubic feet of space is required by act of Parliament to be 
given every prisoner, but here, moving as we are in the midst of 
12 


90 


REPORT OF THE 


the most advanced civilization the world has ever seen, the re¬ 
finements of cruelty are so frequently practiced in public institu¬ 
tions as almost to suppress the murmurings of right and justice. 

Another great evil in this and all the jails of the State is the 
promiscuous association of all classes. The State has an un¬ 
doubted right to punish the guilty but it has no right to con¬ 
taminate the innocent until proved guilty. “ If,” says a forcible 
writer on the subject, “you bring two evil disposed persons to¬ 
gether, especially those whose presence in prison points out 
crime as a prominent feature in their life, this criminality will 
have increased after the contact, because they as all other men 
good or bad will propel each other in that line which is charac¬ 
teristically their own. It is this baneful effect of intercourse 
which in penalogy is called contamination .” 

While the general appearance and condition of the prison did 
not impress me favorably, I must in justice to the officers in 
charge, say, that the cells were as clean as surrounding circum¬ 
stances would admit of. Ho better arrangement for preserving 
cleanlines can be effected in the present building. A new struct¬ 
ure and the introduction of modern conveniences can alone 
accomplish the object. Prisoners are supplied from the table of 
the jailor at 50 cts. per day each. The total cost per annum to 
the county is $5,500. There is no employment and no system 
of prison discipline of any kind pursued. 




On page 91, line 27, for “were,” read was 
















• I 

















•V /. ... ... . .. . • ...... 















* 














/ 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


91 


BALTIMORE CITY. 

THE ALMSHOUSE. 

This institution, known as Bayview Asylum, is located about 
two miles from the city limits, upon a commanding eminence 
which overlooks the river and bay. There are thirty-seven 
acres of land belonging to the place most of which is cultivated 
in vegetables for the use of the house. 

The buildings are of brick, four stories high, with centre and 
two wings, the whole presenting a front of several hundred feet. 
The centre building is surmounted by a large rotunda rising 
fifty feet above the roof. The cost of the establishment is be¬ 
lieved to have been over a million of dollars. The total number 
in the house at the time of my visit was 819, of these 246 were 
insane. Notwithstanding the Grand Jury has several times 
called attention to the fact, the insane department continues to 
be much overcrowded, the evil effects of which are too apparent 
to need demonstration. There are no facilities for separating 
patients laboring under the various forms of lunacy, consequent¬ 
ly the furious maniac, the timid dement, the crouching imbecile 
and the drivelling idiot are promiscuously huddled together. 
Indeed, the insane department is without conveniences, and illy 
adapted for the purpose for which it is used. 

The wards for the sick are comfortably furnished; the bed¬ 
ding was clean, but the atmosphere was not free from offensive 
odors, showing that the system of ventilation is entirely defec 
tive. There is an ample supply of water from the city works, 
but the bathing arrangements in the house are inadequate. The 
sick enjoy the care of the best medical knowledge, and surgical 
skill. The condition of the hospital wards were unexception¬ 
able. At the time of my visit the temperature of the weather 
was very mild and I could not therefore judge of the efficiency of 
the heating apparatus against which complaints have been made 

The dinner served to the male insane during my inspection 
was very meager, consisting almost entirely of boiled hominy. 



02 


REPORT OF THE 


The only person found in charge of the refectory at this time 
was an insane inmate. 

The following articles of diet taken from “Table M,” in the 
last report of the Trustees, and which purports to show the 
quantity and average cost of articles purchased for the institu¬ 
tion from November 1st, 1875, to October 31st, 1876, will serve 
to demonstrate that an almost cruel economy is practiced in 
feeding the inmates. 

TABLE 

Showing Articles of Diet , with Cost of same, given in Report of 1876. 


Apples. 

Arrow Root.. 

Butter. 

Beans... 

Buckwheat. 

Bacon—Shoulders .. 

‘ £ Hams. 

Beef and Steak. 

Crackers—Water. . 

“ Soda . 

Cheese. 

Corn Meal. 

Coffee - Java. 

“ Rio . 

“ Extract. 

Cakes—Ginger. 

“ Asst... 

Flour—Family.. 

“ Extra.. 

Hops. 

Hominy. 

Lard. 

Molasses. 

Mackerel—No. 1. 

“ No. 3 . 

Mutton . 

Onions. 

Potatoes—Irish.. 

Pork—Salt .. 

Pepper. 

Peas.. 

Rice.. 

Salt... 

“ Ground Alum.. 

Sugar—Brown. 

“ White. 

Tea—Gunpowder. 

“ Black.. 

“ Imperial. 

Vinegar. 

Yeast Powders. 

Total. 

Farm Produce 

Total. 


7 bbls. 

3 38 

$ '4.3 66 

15 lbs. 

30 

4 50 

4,62*2 “ 

26 

1,201 72 

248 bush. 

1 54 

381 92 

150 lbs 

3f 

5 62 

22,030 “ 

9 2 

2,092 85 

4,778 “ 

16 

764 48 

17,572 “ 

14j 

2,547 94 

1,052 “ 

8 

84 16 

356 “ 

9 

32 04 

262 J “ 

13 J 

35537 

225 “ 

2 " 

4 50 

414 “ 

30£ 

126 27 

7,622 “ 

20l 

1,562 51 

1,279 “ 

7 

89 53 

11 bbls. 

6 061 

66 69 

4 “ 

9 50 

38 27 

30 “ 

9 40 

282 60 

1,356 lbs. 

6 28 

9,515 68 

75, “ 

28 

21 00 

66 “ 

1 68 

110 88 

2,089 “ 

00 

287,23 

785£ 

28 

219.94 

12 kitts. 

2 85 

34 20 

12 bbls. 

11 62 

139*44 

40,665 lbs. 

n 

2,910.02 

bbls. 

3 62 

5 43 

994£ bush. 

59 ; 

586*75 

1,434 lbs. 

10A 

150 57 

270 “ 

22 

59 40 

184 bush. 

1 59 

292 56 

8,714 lbs. 

6f 

577 29 

144 bush. 

70 

100 80 

8 “ 

40 

3 20 

22,870 lbs. 

8|- 

2,029 71 

2,501 “ 

10| 

268 85 

41 “ 

1 19 

48 79 

398 “ 

36^ 

144 60 

344 “ 

5 if 

177 16 

313^ 

26 

81 51 

16 doz. 

1 38 

22 08 



$ 27,030 32 



5,435 94 



$32,466 26 






















































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


93 


Daily average of inmates. .*793 

u officers. 12 

Total. 805 


Average annual cost of feeding each consumer.$40 33 

“ daily “ “ “ “ . 11 

u cost of each meal. 3§ 


It will be seen from the foregoing that the per capita cost of 
each consumer is $42.63 annually, or about 11 cents per day. 
Now when it is considered that many articles in the list, such 
as apples, hams, Java coffee, assorted cakes, family flour, No. 1 
mackerel, white sugar, gunpowder tea, &c., &c., are almost ex¬ 
clusively for the officers’ table, it will be found that the actual 
amount expended in maintaining these people is probably not 
more than 21 cents per meal, or seven cents per day, which is, 
obviously, not sufficient for the proper maintenance of any man, 
woman or child. It may be said to be reducing the nourish¬ 
ment of a human being down to “a single straw,” less in¬ 
viting than Col. Seller’s repast of “cold water and raw turnips.” 

The intelligent and humane medical officers of the institution 
call attention in their last annual report to the inadequate pro¬ 
vision for the insane inmates; and for the further improvement of 
the condition of the insane they urge increased accommodation, 
either by reducing the number of insane patients under treat¬ 
ment, or by supplying additional space within doors. 

The city of Baltimore now has in various institutions 365 indi¬ 
gent insane, distributed as follows: in the city poor-house (Bay- 
view) 246; in the Maryland Hospital (Spring Grove) 89; in 
Mount Hope Betreat 30. In view of this fact, I would respect¬ 
fully suggest the importance, indeed the necessity of this city 
following the example of nearly all the large cities in this coun¬ 
try and in Europe, by erecting a hospital which shall supply 
remedial treatment, and be devoted exclusively to the reception 
of her own insane. 

Table Showing Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 

u Females .. 

Colored Males.. 

£ ‘ Females.. 

Children (white 13, colored 10). 


,340 

288 



23 


Total 


819 
















94 


REPORT OF THE 


Table Showing the Number under Medical Treatment. 


White Males.221 

“ Females. 21 ft 

Colored Males. 44 

“ Females.*. 79 

Children. 10 


Total.. ...583 


Table Showing the Number and how Employed. 


Mechanic Department, Males. 18 

4< *• Females. 24 

Bakery u Males. 5 

Engineer “ . 14 

Garden * •* . 30 

Laundry 11 “ . 2 

4 4 1 ‘ Females. 14 

Miscellaneous ‘ ‘ Males. 30 

u c ‘ Females . 32 


Total...169 


Table Showing the Number of Insane. 


White Males. 94 

li Females.116 

Colored Males. 13 

“ Females. 23 


Total .246 


Table Showing Forms of Insanity. 


Acute Mania. 15 

Chronic “ *78 

Melancholia. 3 

Dementia. 112 

Imbecility. I 

Epilepsy. ‘23 

Idiocy. 14 


Total..246 


Table Showing Ages of Insane. 


Under 20 years. 2 s 

From 20 to 25 years. . . 27 

‘ 25 “ “ 3»* 4< 33 

3 / “ “ 35 *• ....* ** 28 

35 “ * ‘ 40 “ ’ 23 

40 4 ‘ “ 45 . . 3 j 

“ 45 ‘ 4 “ 50 “ .’’*7/* 20 

(4 50 u 44 55 4 ‘ 22 

“ 55 44 bo *• . 12 

■ 1 fto “ 41 ft5 “ .. 

* 4 ft5 11 u 7o u . 3 

“ 70 *• “ *• ....77. 1 

1 iSO ‘ 4 4< 85 4 ‘ ’ 7.7 j 


Total.. . 24ft 
































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


95 


Taale Showing how long they have been Inmates. 


Under 3 months. 6 

From 3 months to 6 months. J3 

“ 6 “ 1 year. 10 

“ 1 year to 2 years... 28 

* ‘ 2 years to 3 years... . 21 

“3 “ 4 “ 25 

‘•4 “ 5 “ 22 

“ 5 “ 6 “ . 12 

“6 “7 “ 19 

“7 “8 “ 13 

“ 8 “9 “ 15 

“ 9 “ 10 “ 16 

“ 10 “11 “ . . 16 

“ 11 “ 12 “ 23 

14 “ 1 

20 “ ... 1 


Total..,. . 246 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from the City of Baltimore , 

in the Different Institutions. 



White. 

Colored 

Total Insane.... 

Male. 

Female.. 

Total!.... 

1 

| Male. 

1 

Female.. 

1 

| Total.... 

1 

City Almshouse. 

94 

116 

210 

13 

23 

36 

246 

Maryland Hospital. 

49 

40 

89 




89 

Mount Hope Retreat. 

13 

17 

30 




30 

Total. 

156 

173 

329 

13 

23 

36 

365 


















































96 


REPORT OF THE 


THE JAIL. 

This admirably planned building is located at the intersection 
of Madison and Bnren streets, and immediately adjoining the 
Penitentiary. The building is of granite, substantial and secure. 
Its security and complete arrangements for ventilation especially 
commend it to favorable notice. The basement contains the 
heating apparatus, and is also used for the kitchen, bakery^ 
laundry, laveratory and bathing arrangements which are very 
complete. Most of the domestic work of the prison is done by 
the inmates in the basement, and the commingling of the sexes 
while thus engaged, has on several occasions resulted in evil 
conseqences. The floor above the basement is divided by a spa¬ 
cious hall which is known as the guard room. On either side 
of this hall are the cells, respectively, for male and female pris¬ 
oners. The cells open on iron corridors five tiers deep. Refer¬ 
ence to the accompanying ground plan and vertical section will 
give an accurate idea of the internal construction of the prison. 

Admirable water-closet arrangements exists in towers at the 
four corners of the building, which ace readily approached from 
each corridor. The separation of the sexes in this part of the 
prison is absolute. The central or large tower contains neat 
and well furnished rooms for the accommodation of such pris¬ 
oners awaiting trial, as it may be deemed proper to separate 
from the general mass. Cleanliness prevailed throughout the 
prison, except in the cells of the upper corridors where the class 
of prisoners known as vagabonds and “bummers” is confined— 
these cells were not in a satisfactory condition; the lower cells 
were scrupulously clean and orderly, especially on the female 
side. All the cells occupied were furnished with comfortable 
beds and bedding. Considerable attention is paid to the jail 
yard, which is dotted over here and there with beds of luxuriant 
flowers. 

It is a matter of regret that the crowded condition of the 
prison prevents a strict adherence to what is known as the 







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SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 97 

“separate system,” as an increase of moral corruption must re¬ 
sult from the congregation of two or more prisoners in a single 
cell. The prisoners associate in the rooms as well as in the 
corridors. 

The Board of Visitors should urge upon the proper authori¬ 
ties the great importance of constant employment for the in¬ 
mates; a large force could be profitably employed with happy 
results, both in the self support of the establishment, and in the 
physical and moral improvement of the inmates. Dr. J. W. 
Houck, the intelligent and efficient medical officer of the prison, 
calls attention to the importance of this measure, and states that 
it is “lamentable that so many lazy and worthless vagabonds 
should be maintained in idleness at the public expense.” 

At the close of the last fiscal year, October 31st, 1876, there 
were remaining in the jail 423 prisoners and during the twelve 
months of that year 12,354 prisoners were received ; of this 
number 8,789 were committed for drunkenness and disorderly 
conduct. Expenditures for the fiscal year $49,622.07. 


13 


98 


REPORT OF THE 


BALTIMOBE COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

The accommodation for inmates in this institution consists of 
a new and handsome stone building situated about four miles 
from the county seat and half a mile from the main road, on a 
beautiful and commanding elevation which overlooks an exten¬ 
sive area of country. The land surrounding and belonging to 
the institution consists of about eighty acres, most of which is 
clear of wood and beautifully rolling. The apj)roach is unin¬ 
viting in all respects, no attempt having been made to improve 
the bed of the road or to ornament it with trees. The grounds 
of charitable institutions should present such an appearance of 
neatness and order as to produce a cheerful and homelike feel¬ 
ing; pleasant surroundings have a tendency to elevate the 
moral status of the inmates, especially if all the details of the 
management are in keeping therewith. 

The building is three stories high with an attic partly finished 
and an ample basement one-half above the ground level. Its 
greatest length is about 85 feet by 40 deep with a back building 
extending from the centre. A passage way ten feet wide di¬ 
vides it longitudinally; midway a flight of stairs leads to the 
second, third and fourth floors. The first floor is occupied by 
the Superintendent, his family and the resident physician; the 
second by females, white and colored, the white on one side of 
the passage and the colored on the other; the third floor is 
likewise occupied by females and is divided in the same manner. 
The fourth floor or attic is not entirely finished, but will, when 
read} T , afford lodgings for about thirty inmates. At each end of 
the passage dividing the attic floor are two large water tanks 
for supplying water to the building. It is unfortunate that in 
the construction Of the building, towers were not erected at 
some suitable point for the reception of these tanks, since, in 
their present position the water in them must become polluted 
by the exhalations of the inmates who may occupy the floor 
where they are now placed. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


99 


The back building is also three stories high with a basement, 
divided by a passage about six feet wide extending from the 
main building to the rear wall of the back building, having on 
each side rooms for inmates, and service rooms, such as water 
closets, bath and dining rooms. The stairway leading to the 
upper stories is in this passage and cuts off much of each hall 
floor. This building is occupied by males only, but the females 
are compelled to use the passage as a mode of egress, which 
arrangement is very objectionable, as it necessitates the com¬ 
mingling of sexes, and affords opportunity for immorality. 
Near the main building is a cottage which was occupied by the 
former owner of the property, but not in use at present. It 
would afford ample and comfortable accommodations for the 
officers, enabling the entire main building to be devoted to the 
use of the inmates, thereby effecting a complete separation of 
the sexes. 

In the rear of the main building and about one hundred 
yards distant is the pest house, also built of stone. About a 
quarter of a mile distant are the quarters of the colored males, 
consisting of a dilapidated old log house, one story high with a 
loft above, and containing four rooms, two on the lower floor 
and two above. The principal room on the ground floor is 
16x18 feet with a 7 foot ceiling and is used as a sitting room; the 
adjoining room is occupied as a bed room and accommodates 
three old men. This room was very dirty, and contained no 
suitable furniture. The upper rooms were similar to those be¬ 
low. The house furnished shelter for eight colored men. 

The sanitary condition of all the departments indicated great 
carelessness and an utter disregard of the commonest laws of 
hygiene. The beds and bedding were very dirty, and the ticks, 
like those at the Alleghany County Almshouse, contained 
scarcely any straw. 

The male department was so overcrowded that the dining 
room, bath rooms and even the water closets were used for lodg¬ 
ing rooms. The beds were dirty, and behind some of them 
were accumulalations of old rags and other debris. The ticks 
were exceedingly untidy, the straw in some of them being so 
compressed that it scarcely made a mattress of two inches in 
thickness, and by long use had become so slippery that it could 
not be kept in place. Room No. 2 was 15 feet long by 14 feet 


100 


REPORT OP THE 


wide by 10 feet ceiling and contained five persons, giving only 
four hundred and twenty cubic feet of air to each occupant. 
Eoom No. 4 on the third floor containing seven old men, was 
12x15x10 feet and was shockingly dirty in every respect. 
Boom No. 6 on the third floor was occupied by three old men, 
one of whom was insane; he was cared for by one of his com¬ 
panions who showed the hand-cuffs and chains which he kept 
in a box under the bed read}’ for use whenever the insane man 
“was not good.” Room No. 2 on the second floor contained 9 
beds very unclean, and so close together that it was barely pos¬ 
sible to get between them. In one dining room was found a 
sick man. In the third floor bath room was an upright box 
lined with zinc which is used as a shower bath for subduing the 
excitement of the insane. 

The basement is used principally for domestic purposes, and 
contains the kitchen, laundry, pantry, and heating apparatus. 
The cooking was going on at the time of my visit, and the cook 
Avho was an inmate, occupied the kitchen as a sleeping room, 
the bed standing in one corner. The food was plain and sub¬ 
stantial, but good, and in sufficient quantity. The registration 
of inmates was found to be better than at other almshouses, and 
some system existed in the manner of keeping the records, but 
yet not so perfect as should be found in all institutions of the 
kind. The register showed the escape of many insane persons 
with the date of their admittance and elopement. Of the number 
(six) whose names were taken, but one was ever heard of after¬ 
wards; he was subsequently arrested and lodged in jail at Tow- 
sontown. The rates of deaths to the number treated annually 
could not be given; twelve deaths had occurred during the year. 

When the cost of this very handsome stone building is con¬ 
sidered, and its total unfitness for the purposes for which it was 
built, one cannot fail td be impressed with the fact that it would 
have been much better for all concerned had the building com¬ 
mission sought the advice of some one acquainted with the re¬ 
quirements of such an institution. It is a great mistake to 
build large and stately almshouses, even if the arrangements for 
classification are carried out satisfactorily. It is a still greater 
mistake to divide the floors into small rooms which intercept 
ventilation, diminish capacity and increase the labor necessary 
for keeping the house clean. 







SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 101 


Total Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 66 

£ * Females. .. 27 

Colored Males. 9 

‘‘ Females.... 14 

Children. 5 

Total. 121 


Number of Insane Inmates. 


White Males. ... 

“ Females.. 
Colored Males... 
“ Females 

Total. 


7 

8 
1 
1 


17 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia...,. 9 

Chronic Mania. 5 

Imbecility. 2 

Epilepsey. 1 

Total. 17 


Ages of Insane Inmates. 


From 20 to 25 

years. 

. 1 

25 “ 30 

• 4 


“ 30 35 

t. 

o 

“ 35 £ * 40 

4 t 

9 

“ 45 £l 50 

U 

. 2 

“ 50 “ 55 

U 

. 1 

■ 1 55 11 60 

. 4 

. 1 

“ 60 -£ 65 

4 L 

9 

65 70 

“ 70 “ 80 

it 

. 1 

l t 



Total. 17 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Less than one year. 1 

Between 1 and 2 \ears.... 2 

•'< 2 “ 3*" 1 

“ 3 “ 4 “ 5 

“ 4 “ 5 . 1 . 1 

•• 5 1 6 £ * 2 

“ 6 “ 7 “ 1 

7 ‘ S . 0 

<• 8 9 £ 1 

• £ 9 “ 10 “ . 2 

Over 23 years. 1 


Total 


17 




























































102 


REPORT OF THE 




Number of Indigent Insane from Baltimore County in Different 
Institutions. 



White. 

Colored. 

Total Insane ... 

03 

s 

Female.. 

Total.... 

Male... . 

Female . 

! Total ... 

County Almshouse . 

7 

8 

15 

1 

1 

2 

17 

Maryland Hospital. 

4 

7 

11 




11 

Total. 

11 

15 

26 

1 

I 

2 

28 


BALTIMORE COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison is located at a convenient distance from the court¬ 
house, and is certainly one of the best constructed, best man¬ 
aged and cleanest jails in the State. It is of brick, two stories 
high, with basement, making three tiers of cells for prisoners. 
The first or basement tier contains four cells on each side of the 
central hall. This floor was occupied by colored prisoners, sev¬ 
enteen in number. It was crowded—four and five prisoners 
being confined in one cell. On this floor there is a large stove 
which heats the whole prison. The pump for forcing water 
throughout the building is also on this floor. One prisoner, 
Joseph Shipley, (colored,) aged 37 years, is insane; another, 
Perry Shadows, aged 25 years, (also colored,) is confined for in¬ 
sanity. The second tier is occupied by white male prisoners, of 
whom there were fourteen. There are eight cells opening on 
this corridor, all of which were occupied and found clean and 
comfortable. The third tier was occupied by seven men and 
five women; the construction is the same in all respects as those 
below. One prisoner confined in this tier is an epileptic, and 
was imprisoned for assault. He is a fit subject for treatment in 
an insane asylum. The cells are 12 x 8 x 10 feet, with ceilings 
arched, plank floors, a window and a water-closet in each. They 
are ventilated by a register near the floor, and were in every par¬ 
ticular very clean. The walls had been recently whitewashed 
and the floors were well scrubbed. With but two exceptions— 
defects in construction—this is a model prison, and it is not 






















SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


103 


amiss to call attention to these defects, in order that they may 
be avoided by other counties which may have to build prisons in 
a very short time. It is a serious error, in a sanitary point of 
view, to place water-closets in the cells, where the best ventila¬ 
tion is necessarily imperfect, for however well the traps ma}^ be 
made, none have yet been invented which can completely cut off 
the return of noxious gases. A well covered bucket, with a 
little dry earth, is a preferable arrangement. Another error is 
the location of the ventilation register at the floor of the cell, 
without any systematic heat arrangement by which fresh air 
can be introduced and the foul air drawn off. In all other re¬ 
spects the plan of this prison is to be commended as one of the 
best now in the State. There were fifty-six .prisoners confined 
at the time of my visit, three of whom were insane. 


104 


REPORT OF THE 


CAROLINE COUNTY ALMSHOUSE 

This place is a mockery of charity and a nursery of pollution. 
It is located five miles from Denton, the county seat of Caroline, 
on a farm of two hundred acres. The accommodations consist 
of a group of very old and dilapidated frame buildings. The 
largest of these is occupied by the white inmates, another by 
the colored inmates, and a third by an insane man and woman. 
The rooms of the white department were greatly crowded, prin¬ 
cipally with women and their children, most of whom were “to 
the manner born.” One of these women is the mother of two 
children, and another of six, all said to have been begotten and 
born in the house. The sanitary condition of this department 
was far from satisfactory, foul smells being perceptible through¬ 
out the entire establishment. In the rear of this building stood 
an old frame shanty with a single room below and an attic room 
above. The lower room was occupied by an insane white man, 
dressed in a long, dirty gown. His long, unkempt hair hung in 
matted tresses about his neck and face, giving him the appear¬ 
ance of a veritable Mephistophiles. The loft above was occu¬ 
pied by an insane white woman extremely disgusting in appear¬ 
ance and habits, and of vicious bearing. She had borne one or 
more children in the almshouse. The mental faculties of these 
two miserable creatures were completely obliterated, and not 
the slightest attention was paid to their moral or physical con¬ 
dition. If the colored department should be compared to a 
filthy pig-stye, it would be an injustice to the latter. In one 
small room there were found four men, five women, two chil¬ 
dren, any quantity of cats and dogs, and other living things too 
numerous to mention. Of the five women one was a centena¬ 
rian, two were mothers with infants in their arms, and two 
were young girls aged respectively 14 and 16 years. One old 
man was sick, with scarcely the semblance of a bed on which to 
rest his aching bones. Another, though setting upright to par¬ 
take of the coarse and badly cooked dinner just served him, was 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 105 

too weak to defend his scanty meal against the incursion of a 
dog that quickly gulped it down. Such an aggregation of hu¬ 
man misery is rarely seen, and a more disreputable place can 
scarcely be imagined. While the semi-civilized nations of the 
East shock the sensibilities of Christendom with their horrid 
rites until the civilized world is calling out in trumpet tones for 
their suppression, here in our own favored Christian land there 
are cruelties being practiced which if not suppressed will one 
day pile up the ruined altars of private and public peace, of 
health and safety, of honor and virtue. Well may we ex¬ 
claim, 

“Can such things be, 

And overcome us like a summer’s cloud, 

Without one special wonder.” 

Table Showing the Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 

u Females... 
Colored Males ... 

‘ 1 Females.. 
Children, white.. 
“ colored 


4 
8 
T 

5 
8 
2 


Total 


34 


Table Showing the Number of Insane. 


White Males. I 

u Females. 3 

Colored Males... 

' 1 Females. 1 


Total. 5 


Table Showing Form of Insanity .. 


Dementia. 2 

Chronic Mania. I 

Imbecility. 2 

Total. 5 


Table Showing Ages of the Insane. 


16 years. 2 

40 “ 2 

50 “ 1 


Total.. 5 


14 


































REPORT OF THE 


106 


Number of Insane from Caroline County in Different Institutions. 



White. 

Colored. 

Total Insane.... 

a> 

2 

Female.. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female.. 

Total.... 

County Almshouse. 

1 

3 

4 


1 

1 

5 

Maryland Hospital . 

1 

1 

2 


1 

J 

3 

Total .. 

2 

4 

6 


2 

2 

8 


THE JAIL. 

A two-story brick building very old. The first floor is occu¬ 
pied by the Sheriff and bis family ; the second floor is petitioned 
off into four cells, which are cased on the inside with two inch 
oak plank. 

There were three prisoners, all colored men, in custody for 
petty offences. The cells were clean, but contained no furni¬ 
ture; blankets are furnished the prisoners and they sleep upon 
the floor. 































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


107 


C A Tv ROLL COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse, located about one mile from the town of 
Westminster, on a farm of about 180 acres, presents in its inte¬ 
rior and surroundings an air of thrift and good management. 
The accommodations consist of two brick buildings; the Super¬ 
intendent occupies a part of the main building which is two 
stories and an attic in height. The whole building was found 
to be in a highly commendable condition of cleanliness and 
comfort. The three floors are divided by passages running at 
right angles; on each side of the longitudinal passages are well 
heated and ventilated rooms for the use of inmates. The floors 
were well kept and the walls had been recently whitewashed. 
The usual almshouse odor was altogether absent. One large 
room serves the double purpose of dining room and kitchen and 
was in keeping with the rest of the house. The inmates were 
at dinner when I made my visit, and were abundantly served 
with good and wholesome food, hot from the range; neatness 
was also manifested in the arrangement of the table. 

The building is well heated by means of hot water from a 
boiler in the cellar. A plentiful supply of pure spring water is 
forced by means of hand pumps into tanks under the roof, and 
from thence circulates through the building. Adjoining the 
spring is a remarkably neat dairy. There are no water closets 
or bath rooms for the convenience and comfort of the inmates; 
these should be supplied, and would cost but little. An old 
fashioned garden privy takes th*e place of the former, and is 
conveniently located only for those who are able to walk about 
at all seasons of the year; while the whole management pre¬ 
sents the appearance of care for the inmates, and notwithstand¬ 
ing the excellent sanitary condition of this almshouse, the old 
staples in the floor, and the chains and anklets ready for appli¬ 
cation, seem shocking to the modern sense of civilization. In¬ 
deed one insane woman was found on a mattress and chained 
to the floor. 

At the Frederick Almshouse, out of 96 insane inmates four were 
similarly chained; at Washington county two out of 29, and 


108 


REPORT OF THE 


here one out of 15, making a total of seven thus confined out of 
140 insane inmates of almshouses. In contrast with this barba¬ 
rous system of treatment I would mention the fact that at 
Mount Hope Retreat there are over 300, and at the Maryland 
Hospital 240 insane patients and not one in chains. 

The experience of all who have devoted their attention to the 
treatment of the insane is opposed to this cruel custom, and it 
has been generally abolished throughout the world. Humanity 
demands that it should be interdicted in all almshouses and pris¬ 
ons of our State. 

Tne farm of this place is well stoeke 1 with fine cattle, sheep, 
hogs and horses. 

The records of the inmates were found to be wholly defective ; 
this appears to be a general fault in all almshouses. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 

White Males. 22 

11 Females.1 . 29 

Colored Males. 3 

“ Females. 8 

Total. . 62 


Number of Insane Inmates. 


White Males. 5 

“ Females....,. 9 

Colored Males. 0 

u ' Females. 1 

Total. 15 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia. 10 

Imbecility...:. 2 

Chronic Mania. 2 

Epilepsey. 1 


Total . . 15 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Under 1 year. 2 

From 1 to 2 years. 2 

“ 2 “ 3 “ . 1 

“ 3 “ 4 “ . 3 

o 4 “ 5 tt .“ j 

“ io “ ii “ 1 

“ II “ 12 “ ... 2 

“ 15 “ 16 “ 2 

“ 19 “ 20 “ . 1 

Total.. 15 











































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


106 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Carroll County. 



White. 

Colored. 

Total Insane.... 

Male'.... 

Female.. 

Total.... 

Male. 

Female.. 

Total .... 

1 

County Almshouse. 

5 

> 9 

14 

0 

1 

1 

15 

Maryland Hospital. 

1 

2 

3 




3 

Total. 

6 

11 

17 

0 

1 

1 

18 


CARROLL COUNTY JAIL. 

This is an old prison, but in no particular does it fall below 
the average county jails of the State. The front of the building 
is set apart lor the residence of the Sheriff, and the rear or 
prison part contains a basement and two floors, with six cells 
on each. They all open on corridors which run around an 
enclosed space in the centre, extending from the basement to 
thereof of the building; each cell is 8x10x8 feet. The prison 
is heated by a large stove in the basement; the ventilation is 
tolerably good ; the peculiar prison odor was perceptible, but 
not so much so as in many other jails. The sanitary condition 
is as good as the construction of the building allows. It was 
comparatively clean and well kept; the prisoners, 13 in number, 
eleven males and two females, spoke in the highest terms of the 
kind treatment they receive. There is a bath room for the ac¬ 
commodation of prisoners in the rear. The privy conveniences 
consist of a water closet in a separate room, and buckets in the 
cells. There were thirteen prisoners confined at the time of 
my visit, eleven colored men and two colored females. The 
building is surrounded by a wall twenty-two feet high. 

A modern jail could be constructed here at small expense and 
mostly from the material of the present one. 























no 


REPORT OF THE 




• ■ 


CECIL COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

The county of Cecil was visited on the 14th of May. The 
almshouse is located three and a-half miles' from Elkton, near 
the village of Cherry Hill, on a well cultivated and productive 
farm of 176 acres. The main building is a substantial stone 
structure, that cost $7,000 ; this is occupied by the Superintend¬ 
ent and his family, and by white paupers exclusively, male and 
female. The kitchen, dining rooms, &c., are in the basement of 
this building. The second house, obliquely to the rear of the 
foregoing, is a large frame building, erected a few years since at 
a cost of $3,300 : in this building there is a general mixing of 
colors, conditions and sexes. The first building was found in a 
satisfactory condition; the latter was untidy and disorderly. 
In both buildings the departments for males and females are 
separated only by a narrow passage, and the evil result of the 
free communication between the sexes is manifested in the num¬ 
ber of illegitimate children born in the house. There are two 
instances in this almshouse in which the mother and children 
were born in bastardy under its roof. One, an idiotic white 
woman, 40 years of age, herself born in the almshouse, has 
given birth to six children in this institution ; another, a white 
woman, aged 35 years, insane, whose mother still resides in the 
house, has borne two children here; and still another insane 
white woman is the mother of a half negro child, begotten and 
born in the institution. 

The aggregate number of inmates is eighty-eight, viz: 46 
adult males; 31 adult females and eleven children. Of the in¬ 
mates seven are idiotic and twelve insane, though with three or 
four exceptions all the insane are harmless. 

It is due to the Superintendent and his wife, who are ener¬ 
getic and humane people, to say that the association which 
takes place between the sexes cannot well be avoided in the 
present ill arranged building; an effort at effectual separation 
or classification would be futile. 


Ill 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


r l lie number ol tramps fed and lodged in this institution the 
past winter is estimated to be four thousand, and it is said that 
much of the sexual immorality carried on in the house was 
planned and executed by these vagabonds; another reason why 
the repressing hand of the law should be mercilessly applied to 
them. 

The cost of maintaining the almshouse is $4,000 annually; 
and in addition to this there are about fifty out pensioners pro¬ 
vided for by the county, at an annual cost of $872. 


Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males.. 

11 Females... 
Colored Males.... 

“ Females 
White Children... 
Colored “ 


35 

25 

11 

6 

9 

2 


Total 


88 


Number of Insane. 


White Males.... 

44 Females. 
Colored Males . 
• 1 Females 


9 

5 

0 

1 


Total . . . 15 


Ages of the Insane. 


From 12 to 13 years 
14 25 “ 30 “ 

• 4 30 44 35 44 

• 40 * 4 45 4 ‘ 

44 50 44 55 * 4 

44 65 70 44 

76 

Total... 


Length of Tune in Almshouse. 


Under three months. 1 

From one to two years . 1 

4 - two 44 three * 4 . 1 

“ three *• four l ' . 2 

*• four 4 ‘ five *• 2 

“ twelve 44 thirteen 4 ‘ 2 

44 fourteen to fifteen years. 1 

4 - nineteen to twenty years.. 3 

44 twenty-three to t\venty-four years... 1 

44 forty -four to forty-five years. 1 


Total. li 


1 

3 

3 

O 

O 

1 

3 

1 

15 
















































112 


REPORT OP THE 



Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Cecil County in Different 
Institutions. 



White 

Colored. 

| Total Insane .. 

Male..*.. 

Female.. 

1 

| Total.... 

Male .... 

Female. J 

1 Total .... 

1 

County Almshouse. 

9 

5 

14 


1 

1 

15 

Maryland Hospital. 

2 

2 

4 




4 

Total. . 

11 

1 

18 



1 

19 


CECIL COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison is located at Elkton, the county seat of Cecil. It 
is a new granite structure, facaded with a neat brick building 
which is occupied by the Sheriff as a residence. The cost of the 
entire establishment is variously estimated at from forty-five to 
sixty thousand dollars. A heavy stone wall, 22 feet in height, 
encloses a court of about one-fourth of an acre of ground. 
Outside this wall is a brick stable and carriage house, and a 
garden spot of several acres, cultivated principally by the in¬ 
mates. One prisoner serving out a sentence for “assault with 
intent to kill,” was found at work and unattended outside the 
walls ; there was no bar to his escape if he desired to so do. 

The internal arrangements of the jail are not in accordance 
with modern views and requirements, especially noticeable in th e 
absence of any provision lor the separation of the sexes on the 
halls and corridors. There are ten cells on the lower floor opening* 
upon a wide passage which runs directly through the building, 
from the Sheriff’s residence in front to the jail yard in the rear. 
On the upper or second floor, which is approached by an iron 
stairway from the passage below, there are six small and two 
large cells opening upon an iron corridor. The cells are all 
very secure and well adapted for the confinement of prisoners, 
but at the time of my visit they were merely used as sleeping 
apartments ; all the inmates having free access to the corridor, 
hall and yard. 

The general appearance and condition of the establishment 
was not satisfactory; there was an absence,,of neatness and 


























SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 


113 


order about the cells, and the yard was filthy, one corner of it 
being used to deposit the contents of the vessels, which are used 
in the absence of proper privy arrangements. Though each 
cell, in addition to a small window, has artificial means of venti¬ 
lation, the registers are not kept open, consequently the pecu¬ 
liar jail odor was perceptible throughout the building; the 
untrapped and uncovered water-closet bowls in each cell, and 
connected by pipes with a well in the yard have been wisely 
abandoned, and the bucket system substituted. The latter sys¬ 
tem is greatly preferable to any water-closet arrangements 
within the cells, especially if the vessel used is enclosed in a 
proper box or commode with a close-fitting top. Dry earth 
may also be availed of with advantage to absorb the foul gasses 
which will necessarily be generated, if the vessel is not emptied 
immediately after use. 

The building is heated by a furnace in the basement, and sup¬ 
plied with water pumped from a well under or near the jail into 
a tank in the roof. 

There were five prisoners in custody at the time of my 
visit, only two for offences. Three are said to be insane ; two 
of these three, a white man and a colored woman, are unmis¬ 
takably non compos , and should be sent to a proper asylum for 
treatment; the third, a white man who is alleged to be insane, 
said he had been in prison six years for various offences, the 
last being an attempted rape; he is obviously “more knave than 
fool,” and would probably be of more service to the county and 
the State in his old quarters in the penitentiary. 


15 


114 


REPORT OF THE 


CHARLES COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse is located about two miles and a half from 
Port Tobacco on a well cultivated farm of 200 acres. The ac¬ 
commodations consist of a brick building two stories high with 
a one-story wing. The main building is after the usual plan of 
farm houses, and is occupied by the Superintendent and his 
family. The wing is occupied by the inmates; it has two 
porches extending the whole length of the building, one in front, 
the other in the rear. Notwithstanding fifty years have elapsed 
since this almshouse was built, the plan is as good and simple as 
any that can now be devised. It is a one-story pavillion, at¬ 
tached to but not communicating with the main building. It is 
divided longitudinally by a partition, on each side of which are 
rooms opening on the porches; those for females facing the 
approach to the institution; those for males face in an opposite 
direction; thus effecting a complete separation of the sexes. 
There are five rooms for inmates on each side of the partition, 
and a large room at the end of the pavillion, which is used as a 
chapel. The water supply is from a well in the yard. The 
kitchen is in the rear of the main building. 

The Superintendent, Mr. Welsh, has been in charge of the 
institution for twenty years past, and the excellent sanitary 
condition in which it was found attests the good judgment of 
the trustees in retaining his services. 

The house was in admirable order, with good management 
and discipline prevailing throughout. The ventilation is excel¬ 
lent, and I have pleasure in recording that the Charles County 
Almshouse stands, in point of neatness and the comfort of its 
inmates, second to none in the State. In addition to the in¬ 
mates here seventy-two indigent persons are pensioned out to 
private families at an average annual cost of $20 each. But one 
insane person, a white female, was found at this almshouse,; 
she is an innocent idiot 45 years of age, and has been an inmate 
about 23 years. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 115 


Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 2 

“ Females. 3 

‘ ‘ Children. 2 

Colored Males. 0 

“ Females. 1 

Total... 8 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Charles County in the 
Different Institutions. 



White. 


Colored 

Total Insane.... 

I Male. 

1 I 

j Female..| 

j Total... J 

j 1 

| Male. 

1 

| Female.. 

| Total.... 

County Almshouse . 


1 

1 




1 

Mt. Hope Retreat. 


1 

1 




1 

Monteview Hospital. 

2 


2 

1 


1 

3 

Total. 

2 

2 

4 

1 

1 1 

5 


THE JAIL. 

The jail is a small two-story building located to the rear of' 
the Court House. It is badly constructed and unsafe for the 
custody of prisoners. There was an entire absence of neatness 
and order about the place. The number of prisoners was small, 
and all confined for minor offences. A negro had recently been 
hung in the jail yard for murder, and the machinery of death 
still stood, as a warning to others. 































116 


REPORT OF THE 


DOECHESTER COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

No intelligent person can visit and inspect this establishment 
without being impressed by the forlorn condition of the inmates. 
The buildings are located about 14 miles from Cambridge, the 
county seat of Dorchester; they are old, dilapidated structures, 
wholly unsuited for the purposes of an almshouse. The sexes 
are not at all adequately separated, and the general condition 
of the house was far from being satisfactory; the rooms were 
carelessly kept, the beds and bedding filthy, and insufficient. 
The old, the infirm, the sick and the idiotic were promiscuously 
huddled together, and evidences of inattention and neglect were 
everywhere visible. The keeper is a very old man, who with 
the best disposition, it may be, to deal kindly with the inmates, 
either lacks a knowledge of their needs or does not comprehend 
the fact that they are human beings. The negro department 
was simply disgraceful; the floors, walls, bedding, and the in¬ 
mates themselves were shockingly filthy; exhalation from the 
rooms was disgusting in the extreme. In one room occupied by 
two men and one woman, was found a man suffering with sup¬ 
purating syphilitic sores—a mass of corruption and filth. The 
oder of this room was so nauseating and overpowering, that it 
was impossible to enter and make a satisfactory examination of 
the inmates. The total number of inmates in the house was 
23, of which five are insane. 

The farm connected with the institution contains between 
five and six hundred acres of land, and the attention of the 
keeper seems to be given mainly to its cultivation, the care and 
supervision of the inmates over whom he is placed are quite lost 
sight of in the apparently more important business of farming. 
Large farms connected with almshouses are certainly very ob¬ 
jectionable, for the reason that they cannot be worked profitably, 
and they manifestly serve to divert the attention of the keeper 
from the care of the paupers. There are few instances in which 
twenty or thirty acres of land would not be ampjy sufficient for 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


117 


all the practical purposes of a poor house, yet it is not uncommon 
to find connected with them several hundred acres of land worth 
in the aggregate from $10,000 to $15,000, while the poor are 
provided with the most wretched accommodations imaginable. 
It would be far more in keeping with civilization of the age, 
and the enlightened humanity of the people to sell the surplus 
lands and apply the proceeds to the erection and maintenance 
of proper houses for the care of the poor. 

Table Showing Whole Number of Inmates. 

White Males. 4 

“ Females. 7 

Colored Males. 6 

* ‘ Females. 6 

Children. 0 

Total.‘.. 23 


Table Showing the Number of Insane. 

White Males. 0 

‘ 1 Females. 4 

Colored Males. 0 

il Females. 1 

Total . 5 


Table Showing Forms of Insanity. 

Chronic Mania. 2 

Dementia. 1 

Idiocy. 2 

Total...... 5 


Table Showing Ages of Insane. 

Eighteen years.. 1 

Twenty u .;. 1 

Thirty “ . 1 

Forty “ . 1 

Fifty-six *• ..... 1 

Total. .. 5 


Table Showing how long they have been Inmates. 

Under one year. 2 

One year... 1 

Twelve years. 1 

Fifteen ‘• 1 

Total. 5 











































118 


REPORT OF THE 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Dorchester County in the 
Different Institutions. 



THE JAIL. 

Visited April 2d. Located in the town of Cambridge. An 
old brick structure, built probably forty or fifty years ago. It 
is in the style of that day, and was designed for few inmates. 
The Sheriff’s family occupy the lower floor, and there are four 
cells on the second floor; the cells are very insecure, and were 
in a filthy and offensive condition. A colored woman afflicted 
with epileptic mania was confined in one of the cells; she stated 
that she preferred the jail to the almshouse, where she had been 
beaten by the keeper. Her cell and bedding were alike untidy, 
and her clothing and person were disgustingly filthy. There 
were seven prisoners, all colored males, in the prison ; two were 
chained to the floor. It was stated that the erection of a new 
jail was in contemplation, and certainly the reputaion of this 
enlightened county, and the secure keeping of malefactors de¬ 
mand that the project should be speedily executed. 

























119 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


FREDERICK COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This institution, known as Monteview Hospital, is a large and 
handsome brick structure, located at the base of a spur of the 
Blue Ridge Mountains, a mile and a-half from the city of Fred¬ 
erick. There are eighty-two acres of land attached to the 
hospital, which appear to be fertile and well cultivated. The 
approach is by a good road ornamented with trees on either 
side; immediately in front of the entrance the road makes a 
graceful circular sweep, and is here bordejed by shrubbery and 
evergreens. The building is three stories high with basement. 
It consists of a centre building occupied by the officers, and two 
wings for inmates, separated from the centre building by towers, 
with passages running through connecting the wings with the 
centre. On each floor of the towers are water closets and bath 
rooms for inmates. There are eight wards 60x30x10 Teet, each 
containing eight single rooms, a large associated dormitory, and 
a dining room. The single rooms open on a hall 10 feet wide. 
Each ward contained from twenty to thirty inmates. The 
building is comfortably heated by steam. The ventilation is 
rather imperfect, though an effort had been made to improve it 
by artificial means. The air of the halls and bedrooms was 
tolerably good, and the usual almshouse odor was but slightly 
perceived. Each room contained a window, protected on the 
inside by an iron grating of two inch mesh. The general ap¬ 
pearance of the wards evinced cleanliness, both of bedding, 
floors and walls. The bedsteads are of iron and the beds of 
straw, a few sick and infirm persons had feather beds. The 
bed linen was clean and in good order, and the inmates gave 
indication of being well cared for. The general design of the 
building is good, being admirably adapted in all respects for the 
purposes of an almshouse. Its adaptability for the proper care 
of the insane is open to objection, particularly with reference to 
classification. The propriety of congregating the sane and the 
insane together in the same wards and rooms is very questiona¬ 
ble; they react injuriously upon each other. The sane impose 


120 


REPORT OF THE 


upon the insane, ridiculing their special infirmities and delusions, 
thereby increasing their irritability of temperament and thus 
aggravating their malady. The insane are peculiarly sensitive 
to their condition and equally conscious of any intent on the 
part of others to deride them. On the other hand the sane are 
as disagreeably affected by constant association with the insane 
as the sober man by contact with the drunkard. In this build¬ 
ing the insane are associated with the sane, and are cared for 
by unskilled pauper attendants. It is proper however to say 
that these attendants are paid a small compensation as a stimu¬ 
lus to duty. Most of the insane found here were harmless 
cases; being principally dements and chronic cases of mania. 
Several of them however were violent, noisy and dirty in their 
habits; three of this class were women, all of whom were 
chained by the ankle to the floor. The use of chains as a means 
of restraint has heretofore been commented upon as unnecessary 
in any and every case; besides being positively injurious, both 
mentally and physically. Such treatment is humiliating, and 
however insane the patient may be he is yet conscious of the 
degredation. 

The colored inmates are very badly accommodated and appa¬ 
rently not carefully provided for. They occupy an old brick- 
building which was used as a county almshouse before the pres¬ 
ent hospital Was erected. In this house there were nine colored 
insane and feeble minded men. The rooms were greatly over¬ 
crowded, and the floors, walls and bedding very dirty. In one 
room 20x20x8 feet were twelve colored men; eight occupied 
beds and the balance slept on benches and on the floor; one of 
them was ill of pneumonia. Certainly the trustees should not 
allow such a condition of affairs to exist in this otherwise excel¬ 
lent institution. 

The new building is reported to have cost but $120,000, 
which indicates economical management on the part of the 
building committee. The plan of the building also reflects credit 
upon the architect. 

The inmates are faithfully attended by the visiting physician. 
The institutisn is managed by a board of trustees appointed by 
the County Commissioners. The register of, inmates is very 
defective, and as a consequence, but little detailed information 
could be obtained; nor could the Superintendent state how 


121 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 

many insane had been cured except from his own recollection. 
I would suggest in this connection a suitable form of registra¬ 
tion of all inmates, embracing the following information: Name, 
age, sex, color, where born, last residence, married or snigle, 
disease for which admitted, discharged, cured, improved, not 
improved, eloped, removed, died, cause of death, how long in 
hospital. This information should be arranged in a large book, 
with columns ruled off for each particular heading. At the end 
of each fiscal year the names of all inmates remaining should be 
carried forward with their histories to the new year’s record. 

There is no institution in the State that feeds and lodges so 
many Tramps as this hospital. The Superintendent reports in 
October, 1876, 1,050; November, 1,157; December, 2,063; Jan¬ 
uary, 1877, 2,701; and in February, 1,865, making a total in 
■five months of 8,836. This institution also receives a large 
number of indigent insane from other counties. 


Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males... 

u Females... 

Colored Males.. 

** Females .. 

. 92 

. 62 

. 40 ' 

. 28 

Total. 

. 222 

Whole Number of Insane. 

White Males.. 

u Females . 

. 43 

. 42 

Colored Males... 

“ Females . 

............ 2 

Total. . 

. 96 


Number of Insane from each County. 


Charles... . 3 

Frederick.1... 55 

Garrett... 1 

Harford .... . 14 

Montgomery. 5 

St. Mary’s. 1 

Washington. 8 

Total. 96 


16 



























122 


REPORT OF THE 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia . 44 

Chronic Mania. 29 

Imbecility. :.n .. 9 

Epilepsey. 9 

General Paresis. 1 

Melancholia. 1 

Idiocy. 2 

Acute Mania. 1 


Total 


96 


Ages of the Insane. 




Between 15 and 20 years. 1 

“ 20 “ *25 “ . 11 

“ 25 “ 30 12 

“ 3'» “ 35 “ . II 

“ 35 “ 40 “ . 8 

“ 40 45 “ . 11 

“ 45 “ 50 “ . 8 

“ 50 “ 55 “ . 10 

“ 55 “ 60 “ . 9 

“ 60 “ 65 “ . 8 

£ ‘ 65 ‘‘70 2 

“ 70 “ 80 ‘‘ . 5 


Total. . 96 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Under 1 year... 14 


From 

u 

1 

2 

to 

a 

2 

3 

years . 

u 



CC 

3 

CC 

4 

u 



u 

4 

CC 

5 

4 4 



( c 

5 

u 

6 

44 


. 12 

CC 

6 

u 

7 

ll 



c ( 

7 

u 

8 

u 



u 

9 

l. 

10 

4 l 



. c 

11 


12 

u 



l. 

12 

1 c 

13 

ll 



i 4 

15 

u 

16 

4 4 



• 4 

‘20 

i c 

21 

u 



4 C 

24 

4 C 

25 

u 






30 

4 . 





Total 


























































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


123 


FREDERICK COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison has been recently built, and serves the purpose 
of a city and county jail. It has most of the modern improve¬ 
ments in prison construction except a well devised system of 
ventilation and water closets. The latter are very offensive, 
owing to the backing up of the sewage. The building is heated 
by hot water and was of comfortable temperature. The prison 
is two stories high, the cells opening on corridors 60 feet long 
by 14 feet wide, lighted by fourteen windows. There are six 
cells on each story 8x10x9 feet, all in an uncleanly condition. 
The prison odor was quite decided, and the general sanitary 
condition much neglected. Twenty-two prisoners were found 
in the jail, 13 white and 9 colored. Two colored children were 
permitted to remain in jail with their sister who was a prisoner. 


124 


REPORT OF THE 


HAKFOKD COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

The farm on which this almshouse is situated is located about 
a mile and a-half from Belair, the county seat, and contains 
about 300 acres, mostly cleared land. The principal building, 
recently constructed at a cost of $10,000, is of stone, two stories 
high with an attic and basement. It is a substantial structure, 
but not suitably arranged for the purposes of an almshouse. 
The first floor is bisected by a passage eight feet wide; on one 
side is a large sitting room, used exclusively as a day room; a 
smaller room on the same side is used as a dormitory for tramps; 
on the opposite side of the passage are four rooms used as sleep¬ 
ing apartments for inmates. The second floor is divided into 
nine small rooms about 9x14 feet which open upon the passage 
way leading to the first floor. The third floor is an attic unfin¬ 
ished and unoccupied. The general sanitary -condition of the 
house was good, and the rooms and beds were found to be 
cleanly and in good order. No water closets or bath rooms are 
provided; the inmates use buckets which are removed daily. 
The basement is used for kitchen, pantry and laundry purposes. 
This building is occupied exclusively by the white population, 
male and female. The arrangement of the rooms is such as to 
preclude the possibility of preventing a promiscuous association 
of the sexes. 

The colored female department consists of a dilapidated, one 
story frame in the rear of the main building, which contains but 
one room, occupied by eight colored women and three children; 
a large stove and four rickety, untidy beds constitute all the 
furniture of the apartment. Of the eleven persons who occu¬ 
pied this room lour were insane, and two occasionally very 
violent. The Superintendent pointed out where a considerable 
surface of the wall had recently been torn off by one of these 
patients. 

The male colored department is also a smalkone-story frame 
building in the rear of the female department; one room em¬ 
braced the whole accommodation for seven colored men, one of 


125 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 

whom was confined to his bed by sickness. The bedding was 
very deficient and dirty. 

The Superintendent and his family reside in a frame dwelling 
situated about thirty feet from the main building and in the 
same enclosed yard. 

The grounds surrounding the building did not present an ap¬ 
pearance of neatness and taste. The cultivation of trees, shrub¬ 
bery and flowers would add greatly to the appearance and com¬ 
fort of the place. 

A large number of Tramps are fed and lodged at this alms¬ 
house ; the Superintendent reported 45 in July, 1876; 51 in 
August; 70 in September; 192 in October; 295 in November; 
339 in December; 107 in January, 1877; and 171 in February; 
making a totatl of 1,270 in eight months. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 17 

“ Females. 8 

Colored Males. 13 

“ Females......... 11 

Colored Children. 4 

Total. 53 


Total Number of Insane. 


White Males... 2 

u Females. 4 

Colored Males. 2 

‘ ‘ Females. 4 

Total. 12 


Ages of the Insane. 


Under 20 years. 1 

From 25 to 30 years. 4 

“ 30 <• 35 “ 1 

“ 35 “ 40 “ 2 

“ 40 “ 45 ‘ 2 

“ 60 “ 65 •* 1 

“ 65 70 I 

Total. 12 


Form of Insanity. 


Acute Mania. 1 

Chronic Mania. 5 

Imbecility. 3 

Dementia. 2 

Idiocy . i 

Total.- 12 









































126 


REPORT OF THE 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Harford County in the 
Different Institutions. 



White. 

Colored. 

Total Insane... 

Male. 

1 Female.. 

1 

Total . .. 

Male. 

i 

| Female. 

1 

1 

Total.... 

1 

County Almshouse. 

2 

4 

6 

2 

4 

6 

12 

Mt Hope Retreat. 

1 


1 




1 

Monteview. 

5 

6 

11 

2 

1 

3 

14 

Maryland Hospital. 

4 

2 

6 




6 

Total . 

12 

12 

24 

4 

5 

9 

33 


HAKFOKD COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison, located at Belair, did not impress me favorably. 
It is in the style of the early jails; not adapted to present wants 
or to the use of the separate system. It is insecure for the cus¬ 
tody of prisoners, carelessly managed, defective in ventilation, 
and imperfect in light. The heavy, contaminated atmosphere, 
the contracted corridors, low ceilings, small windows, and utter 
absence of comforts or conveniences make it a very unfit place 
to confine human beings in. The front of the building, which 
is a two-story stone, is occupied by the Sheriff and his family; 
the entrance to the rear or prison part is by a passage through 
the Sheriffs apartments. The lower or basement floor is about 
three feet below the level of the ground, and contains four cells 
with brick floors. The second floor is reached by a narrow 
flight of stairs, there are four cells on this floor, dark and dun¬ 
geon like. In each cell there is a urinal, without trap of any 
kind,'which discharges through a pipe that empties into a pit 
on the outer side of the jail. Fortunately there were only three 
persons confined in this prison, which is defective in all respects 
and should be replaced b}' a new structure more in accordance 
with modern requirements. 























SECRETARY OP THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


127 


HOWARD COUNTY. 

There is no almshouse in this county. 

HOWARD COUNTY JAIL. 

This prison is located at Ellicott City, the county seat of 
Howard, to the rear of the Court House, which stands upon an 
elevation overlooking the town. In no jail in the State is the 
general appearance and condition worse. 

At the date of my visit there were 15 prisoners in custody, 
five white males, nine colored males, and one colored female, 
none of whom had been tried. The female prisoner was con¬ 
fined in a cell with four negro men, an act of barbarity which 
needs no comment. 

There were no beds, not even a mattress of straw, in any of 
the cells; loathsome blankets, scattered in disorder about the 
floors and a privy bucket,"constituted the entire furniture. An 
unoccupied cell supplied the place of a water closet; in it there 
was a funnel-shaped sink into which the contents of the night 
buckets are emptied, and the stench, which permeated the en¬ 
tire prison was indescribably offensive. The sanitary condition 
of such an illy ventilated and neglected receptacle must neces¬ 
sarily be very bad. The cells were greatly overcrowded, not 
affording over 115 cubic feet of space for each inmate. 

Several members of the Board of County Commissioners vis¬ 
ited the building with me, and as they are unquestionably gen¬ 
tlemen of intelligence and humane feelings, I should like to 
bestow some commendation upon the institution under their 
charge, but when I saj T that the prisoners are well-fed , I have 
exhausted my stock of praise. The Commissioners complain 
that the building is not only insecure, but that it is impossible 
to keep it in order, on account of its structural defects. I 
doubt if any remedy can be provided without an entire re¬ 
arrangement, while the overcrowded state would indicate that 
the sooner a new prison is provided by the county the better. 


REPORT OF THE 


128 


KENT COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

Kent County Almshouse is located on a farm of 400 acres of 
land, situated about three miles from Chestertown. 

The accommodations comprise a frame building, occupied by 
the Superintendent and his family; one old brick building in 
the rear, for white inmates; and one frame “quarter” for the 
colored. The buildings, as in most other cases, are not at all 
suited for the purposes of an almshouse, nor for the proper care 
of the inmates. 

It would be wise on the part of the county authorities to sell 
the whole place, and invest the proceeds in suitable buildings, 
located on a tract of land not exceeding fifty acres, which is 
quite as much as can be profitably worked by the inmates, or 
join their neighbors in erecting a district or union almshouse, 
for the accommodation of the poor of the respective counties. 

The principal building of this establishment is an old white¬ 
washed brick house two-stories in height, with an attic, finished 
for occupation. The rooms are separated from each other by a 
narrow passage. There are two rooms on each floor, one on 
each side of the passage, making six, including two in the attic. 
One room on the first floor contained four white females and a 
child four years of age, whose grand-mother is an inmate. The 
room was clean and comfortably furnished, with good beds and 
plain furniture. The next room opposite was of the same di¬ 
mensions, 20x15x8 feet, and contained three beds, occupied by 
white women and one infant born in the house. This room was 
also used as a dining room One of the inmates of this room 
was an idiotic deaf mute, and the mother of three illegitimate 
children, begotten and born in the almshouse. One room on 
the second floor (same dimensions as those below) was occupied 
bjr seven persons, four women and three children. One of the 
children was a very pretty child of seven years, one an infant of 
seven months, born and begotten in the house. The grand¬ 
mother and mother of the infant occupied adjoining bods in this 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 120 


room, making another instance of three generations of the same 
family in one house. In the attic was found a family of five 
persons, husband, wife and three children, two of whom are 
twins, six months of age. This room was very dirty and poorly 
furnished. 

The building for the colored inmates is a one-story frame 
house with loft above. The lower floor was occupied by 
seven colored persons, two males and five females. Two beds 
were in the room ; we were told that some of the inmates slept 
in the loft. One of the male inmates is an epileptic imbecile ; 
another aged colored woman was sick in the loft. Her bed was 
dirty, and the room gloomy and devoid of comforts. The ad¬ 
joining room to the one on the lower floor contained three beds 
and a “box room” in the corner, used for $n insane colored man. 
This “ box room” was a portion of the room partitioned off be¬ 
tween the chimney and the wall, with a kind of barred window 
opening toward the fire. The floor of this room was extremely 
dirty and out of order. Above was the loft, where five women 
and one boy slept. There was no dining room or other conve¬ 
niences. The entire colored accommodations were filthy, offen¬ 
sive and exhibited great neglect of the commonest decencies of 
life. There were no privy conveniences of any kind. The 
whole establishment was in a shocking condition. 


Table Showing the Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 1 

u Females. Id 

Colored Males. 10 

Females. 10 

Children, colored. 9 

Total. 49 


Table Showing the Number of Insane. 


White Males...,. 0 

Females... 1 

Colored Males. 3 

i Females. 1 


Total 


17 




















130 


REPORT OF THE 


Table Showing Form of Insanity. 


Epileptic... I 

Chronic Mania. I 

Imbecility. 3 

Total. 5 


Table Showing Ages of the Insane. 


10 years. 1 

16 il . 1 

45 “ 1 

60 “ .. 1 

Total. 5 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Under one year. | 

Three years. 1 

Six “ j 

Nine “ 1 

Twelve “ 1 

Total.... 5 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Kent County in Different 

Institutions. 


























































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


131 


KENT COUNTY JAIL. 

Kent County Jail is located in the Court House yard, and is 
built of brick tw.o stories in height. The Sheriff resides on the 
first floor, the prison being on the second floor. Three cells 
constitute the prison capacity ; each one is 15x12x10 feet in di¬ 
mensions, and so insecure as to require the use of chains in order 
to prevent the escape of prisoners. Three colored men were 
confined in cell No. 1, for different offences; each one had his 
feet fastened together by chain anklets. The cell was very 
dirty and full of vermin. Cell No. 2, same dimensions, contained 
no prisoners. Cell No. 6 contained six colored persons, all with 
chains on their feet to prevent escape. The prison is heated by 
stoves, and the privy conveniences consist of open buckets. 


132 


REPORT OF THE 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This institution is located on a farm of 80 acres about two 
miles from the town of Rockville. The accommodations consist 
of a two-story and basement brick building. The house is not 
at all adapted to the purposes of an almshouse, besides being too 
small for the number of inmates. The first floor is occupied by 
the Superintendent’s family, and the second by white inmates, 
male and female. The rooms of this floor are large, clean and 
comfortable, and are heated by open fire-places ; the bedding 
was ample and clean, and the inmates well cared for. The 
basement is used for colored inmates; it is divided into small 
rooms which were overcrowded, dirty and offensive; in many 
of them men and women were domiciled together, some of 
whom were confined to bed from sickness, and others insane 
and paralyzed. The floor of the kitchen and two small closets 
adjoining furnished sleeping room for quite a number of the 
inmates. Two white idiotic hoys also slept on the kitchen floor, 
and the same accommodations were furnished any tramp who 
might happen to present a ticket for a night’s lodging. Indeed 
the basement was so completely crowded that every new arrival 
had to be accommodated on this floor. The sanitary condition of 
these basement rooms was very bad, and no regard is paid to 
the morality of the occupants, who live and sleep together re¬ 
gardless of sex. One of the colored men said that when any of 
their number died, the body laid in bed in the same room with 
the living until buried. An idiotic girl called Ann had had two 
children born and begotten at the house. A new and better 
arranged almshouse is greatly needed. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Miiles. 7 

11 Females . 2 

Colored Males. .... J .. 8 

“ Females.*. . 7 

11 Children. 2 

Total. 26 










SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


133 


Number of Insane Inmates. 


White Males. 3 

“ Females. . 1 

Colored Males. 1 

“ Females.*. 2 

Total. 7 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia. 1 

Imbecility. 2 

Chronic Mania. 2 

Epilepsey. 1 

Idiocy....%. 1 


Total 


Ages of the Insane. 


From 25 to 30 years 
30 “ 35 “ 

*• 35 ‘‘ 40 “ 

“ 40 “ 50 “ 

“ 50 “ 60 “ 


1 

2 

2 

1 

I 


Total 


Length of Time in Almshouse. 


r lhree years. 2 

Four u . 3 

Five “ 1 

Twenty 11 1 

Total. 7 


\yhole Number of Indigent Insane from Montgomery County in 
the Different Institutions. 































































134 


REPORT OP THE 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail is a two-story building situated in the rear of the 
Court House. It has the appearance of having been built many 
years ago, in the days of comparative innocence, when jail- 
breaking and burglary were unknown arts; still it is strong and 
secure enough for the class of criminals who usually occupy 
cells within its walls. It is much stronger within than it ap¬ 
pears from without; the walls are well plaited with iron bars 
that cross each other at short distances. The jail was found 
very clean and in good order; the hall was newly whitewashed 
as well as the cells. There are three cells on the lower floor 
opening on a spacious hall in which a large stove heats the cells 
above as well as those below. On the second floor are six cells 
of various sizes, all ample, clean and recently whitewashed; their 
average size is 14x14x10 feet, the floors are of stone, and the 
outer walls are protected by iron bars. The basement also has 
cells which are not in use. The yard in the rear is enclosed by 
a high brick wall, in the corner of which the sewage is disposed 
of. The outlet had become blocked, and it was necessarily 
offensive. The prisoners use buckets, the odors of which are 
very offensive. The number of prisoners confined at the time of 
my visit was 8, as follows: White males 2, colored males 5, col¬ 
ored females 1. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


135 


PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 


This almshouse is situated about eight miles from Marlboro’ 
and one mile from Forrestville on a farm of 100 acres of very 
poor land. There is a new brick building two stories high, and 
a one-story frame pavillion. The brick house is occupied by 
white inmates exclusively. Two rooms on the first floor are 
used by the Superintendent’s family; one is reserved for the 
Trustees, and the remaining room is occupied by four white 
women and four children; one of the women is insane and was, 
at the time of my visit, confined to her bed from the effects of a 
recent abortion. The upper floor is divided by partitions into 
six small rooms, which were occupied by men and women with¬ 
out any adequate provision for the separation of the sexes. 

The colored inmates occupied the one-story pavillion, which 
was found quite clean, but destitute of furniture. The supply 
of water is obtained from a well in the yard and a spring near 
by. The grounds immediately around the building are entirely 
neglected, and present a desolate appearance. The brick build¬ 
ing cost about $7,000, and will accommodate 30 patients. One 
much more suitable for the purpose could have been built for a 
less sum, that would have provided for a complete separation of 
the sexes, which cannot be accomplished where the rooms are 
divided only by a narrow passage way. The building is heated 
by stoves, and no artificial ventilation is supplied. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


WhiteMales. 3 

11 Females. 8 ‘ 

“ Children. 5 

Colored Males. 3 

“ Females. 3 

Colored Children. 1 

Total.. 23 














136 


REPORT OF TIIK 


Total Number of Insane. 


White Males.... 

“ Females. 
Colored Males . 
‘ 1 Females 


Total. 8 


3 

3 

I 

1 


Form of Insanity. 


Mania. 

Chronic Mania. 

Imbecility. 

Paralytic Mania 

Dementia. 

Idiocy. 


1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 


Total 


8 


Ages of the, Insane. 


20 years. 1 

22 “ . . 1 

24 “ . 1 

30 “ . 1 

60 • ‘ . I 

66 . 2 

tO i£ . 1 

Total. 8 


Length of Time, in the Almshouse. 

Under 1 year. . 

From 1 to 2 3 ears. 


5 ‘ 6 «• 

“ 6 “ 7 “ 

“ 7 “ 8 

Total. 


1 

1 


( 

1 


rt 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Prince George's County in 

Different Institutions 



White. 

Colored 

Total Insane... 

Male. 

i 

1 Female.. 

"cS 

O 

Eh 

Male.,.. 

Female. 

Total.... 

County Almshouse. 

3 

3 

6 

I 

1 

2 

8 

Mt Hope Retreat. 

5 

1 

6 


1 

1 

7 

County Jail .. 

l 


1 

1 

• 1 

2 

3 

Maryland Hospital. 


j 






Total . 

9 

4 

13 

2 

3 

5 

18 








































































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


137 


PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY JAIL. 

This is a brick building two stories high, surrounded by a ten 
toot plank wall. It is located near the Court House. The first 
floor is divided into four cells, two on each side of a passage; 
the floors are brick, and the ceilings arched with the same; the 
windows in each cell are two by six feet, grated outside. The 
building is heated by a furnace in the cellar; the register opens 
in the passage immediately opposite each cell door. The floors 
and walls were whitewashed and presented a cleanly appear¬ 
ance. The second floor contains six cells, smaller than those 
below but in other respects the same. The privy conveniences 
consist of open buckets. There were twelve prisoners, two 
white and nine colored males and one colored woman. Three 
of the number are insane; two committed for insanity and one 
colored man charged with assault. One is a colored woman and 
the other a white man. His mattress, bedding and clothing 
were saturated with urine and his cell was extremely offensive. 
As he arose from this filthy bed he shivered with cold. The 
colored woman was about 35 years old, and had been a prisoner 
about five weeks; her case seemed to be one of puerperal mania, 
but no history could be obtained. The white man is an Irish¬ 
man, aged about 45; he had been confined about six weeks; his 
form of insanity was acute mania with delusions. The general 
provision was very good. 


18 


138 


REPORT OF THE 


QUEEN ANN’S COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse is located about seven miles from Centreville. 
on a farm of 115 acres. The building is an old mansion house, 
built of imported brick, two stories high with a capacious attic. 
The Halls and rooms are very large with high ceilings. The 
first floor is occupied by the Superintendent and his family; the 
second floor and attic by the white, and the back building by 
the colored inmates. The basement is used for domestic pur¬ 
poses and contains the kitchen, dining room, pantry, &c\ The 
inmates were in good health, only one being reported sick. An 
insane woman was chained to the floor in a room in the attic. 
In another room was a second chain fixed to the floor, used for 
a colored woman who occasionally becomes violent. The col¬ 
ored department is illy adapted for almshouse purposes, but the 
general condition of the house with respect to cleanliness and 
order was satisfactory, and the inmates appeared to be well 
taken care of. In addition to the twenty-eight inmates, there 
are about fifty out pensioners, at an average annual cost of 
$35 per capita. 


Total Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 5 

“ Females. 11 

Colored Males . 5 

4t Females. 7 

Total. 28 


Number of Insane. 


White Males. 2 

“ Females.. 4 

Colored Males...... 2 

11 Females. 1 

Total... 9 ' 

















SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


139 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia. 3 

Imbecility. 1 

Chronic Mania. . 1 

Epilepsey. 3 

Idiocy. 1 

Total. 9 


Ayes of the Insane. 


22 years.. 2 

33 “ 1 

36 “ 2 

40 “ 1 

46 “ I 

50 “ 2 

Total. 9 


Length of Time in Almshouse. 


Three years. 

Five u . ... 

Eight “ . 

Ten * ‘ . 

Thirteen years ..... 
Sixteen “ .... 

Twenty “ _ 

Twenty-four years 


I 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


Total 


9 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from this County in Different 

Institutions. 































































140 


REPORT OF THE 


QUEEN ANNE’S COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail is situated in the rear of the Court House; it is a 
brick building two stories high. The first floor is divided by a 
passage, on one side of which the Sheriff and his family reside; 
on the other are four cells for prisoners, two on each side of a 
narrow passage. The same arrangement of cells exists on the 
second floor and in the basement. Each cell is 12x14x10 feet, 
and heated by a stove, with no artificial ventilation or sewage 
conveniences; buckets are used in the cells. The prisoners are 
furnished with mattresses and blankets. The jail was found in 
good sanitary condition. There were six prisoners confined, 
four of whom were colored men, one white and one colored 
boy, the latter on the charge of murder. 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


141 


SOMERSET COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 


This almshouse is situated about three miles from Princess 
Anne, on a farm of 200 acres. The accommodations consist of 
a main brick building two stories high, divided by a passage. 
The first floor is occupied by the Superintendent and his family, 
and the second by white inmates, male and female, The colored 
inmates occupy two small one-story frame buildings much dilapi¬ 
dated. 

The second floor of the main building contains three rooms 
12x15 feet each, two of which are on one side of the passage and 
one on the other. One of these rooms was occupied by two 
white women and one white man ; the adjoining room contained 
two persons, a female and an imbecile male. It is difficult to 
conceive why the sexes should thus have been mixed, unless to 
foster the usual almshouse immorality. The third room wa 
occupied by two females and two infants, one the child of 
white mother and colored father. Both children were begotten 
and born in the house, which should be a warning to those who 
manage the establishment to enforce a separation of the sexes. 

The house was in a fair condition of cleanliness, the beds and 
bedding neat and comfortable; and but for the violation of all 
sense of propriety and decency in allowing men and women to 
lodge together in the same rooms, when there was not even the 
excuse of necessity for so doing, my report of the white depart¬ 
ment would have been favorable throughout. 

The structural defects of the colored department are such as 
to render it unfit for use. The rooms were begrimed with dust, 
smoke and cobwebs, and altogether showed great want of care 
and attention; the beds were filthy, the sanitary condition bad, 
and the inmates thoroughly uncomfortable. There was but one 
insane inmate—a white male aged 40; he was an imbecile and 
had been in the house since boyhood. 



142 


REPORT OF THE 


Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males..*. 2 

11 Females.. 2 

Colored Males. 5 

11 Females. 5 

“ Children. 4 

Total.. 18 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Somerset County in 
the Different Institutions. 



SOMERSET COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail is a square stone building two stories high, and divid¬ 
ed by a passage below and above. The first floor is occupied 
by the Keeper’s family; the second contains four cells each 
15x15x12 feet, heated by stoves ; there is no artificial ventilation 
except a window in each cell, and no privy conveniences ex¬ 
cepting buckets, which are emptied daily. The cells are lined 
within by two-inch oak boards. This prison, recently built, was 
considered very secure, but it has been found to be otherwise. 
Not long since a colored man and his wife made their escape 
from one of the cells by tearing off the batting and picking out 
a large stone alongside of the window, making an opening 
through which they both escaped. One cell contained eight 
colored and one white man; its odor was very offensive. An¬ 
other contained a man, wife and two children, colored. Four 
small dark cells or dungeons are constructed oh the first floor, 
but are not used. 








































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


14v» 


ST. MARY’S COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse is located on a farm of 200 acres, about four 
miles south-east of Leonard town. The building is an old two- 
story brick house, flanked on the south side by a one-story frame, 
all in a dilapidated and ruinous condition. 

The internal arrangements are very bad, and owing to defec¬ 
tive drainage and dampness in the basement, the health of the 
inmates must necessarily be endangered. The first floor of the 
brick building has a passage-way and two rooms pn either side 
of it; three of the rooms are occupied by the inmates, and an¬ 
other is set aside as a place to punish the inmates by close con¬ 
finement, but apparently it had not recently been used for such 
a purpose; indeed, it was being used as a store or lumber room. 
The upper story is occupied exclusively by the Superintendent 
and his family. The basement is rendered useless by its great 
dampness, being often filled with water. The frame attachment, 
is used for cooking and laundry purposes. Each room was vis¬ 
ited and examined. They were not very orderly, and the bed¬ 
ding was untidy. . Of course the condition of the building will 
not admit of thorough cleanliness and order, but a great deal 
more might be done in that direction which would improve the 
condition of the house and add to the comfort of the inmates. 

Some of the inmates are aged and infirm and require a few 
comforts and a little care in order to make life endurable, but it 
is very clear that neither the one nor the other can be extended 
to them in their present miserable quarters. 

The Superintendent and his wife are unquestionably kind 
hearted, humane people, and possess more refinement of appear¬ 
ance and bearing than is usually found in persons occupying 
such positions. The inmates manifested contentment even in 
their gloomy abode, and spoke in terms of appreciation of the 
kindness extended to them. 

Happy is it for society when even in the haunts of wretched¬ 
ness there is found such a connection of good will; and most 
happy is he or she who can combine with an unpleasant official 
position the gratification which always accompanies warm 
hearted and enlightened benevolence. 


144 


REPORT OF THE 


It is to be hoped that the county authorities will take steps 
to provide better quarters, both for the comfort of the inmates, 
and to enable the introduction of better administration with tho 
affairs of the household. 

There were only ten inmates in the house, all of whom were 
females, two white, six colored and two children, aged respect¬ 
ively four and two years. Two of the colored were found to be 
epileptic, viz : Sophia Rusten, aged 19, and Yernie Smallwood,- 
aged 18 years. Both have been subject to convulsions from 
early life. The former has been an inmate of the almshouse 
from childhood, and occasionally has paroxysms of violent anger; 
the latter has only been an inmate for six or eight months; she 
has with her an infant two years old. Another young colored 
woman is blind from cataract, but is otherwise healthy. She 
could be relieved by proper surgical skill. One of the white 
women, Millie Thompson, sixty years of age, is an imbecile and 
has been an inmate of the almshouse for forty years. 

In addition to inmates of the almshouse the county supports 
one hundred and four out pensioners, at an average cost of 
about $20 per annum, or an aggregate of upwards of $2,000. 
The cost of maintaining the ten inmates in the almshouse, is in 
the aggregate, $2,216, or a per capita cost of $221 per annum, a 
sum greater than is required to maintain and treat patients in 
the most elegant and comfortable charitable institutions in the 
State. This large expenditure is partially attributable to the 
fact that the house has no general rnles for its government, no 
dietary regulations, nor special duties for the inmates by which 
they could aid in supporting themselves. The farming opera¬ 
tions too are doubtless an incubus upon this, as they have been 
found to be upon other similar institutions visited. The Trus¬ 
tees would do well not only to rehabilitate, or make new their 
building, but also to reorganize and discipline its affairs. 

Table Showing the Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. o 

u Females.. 2 

Colored Males. 0 

Females. 6 

Children, colored.'. 2 

Total. 10 












SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


145 


Table Showing the Number of Insane. 


White Males. 

u Females.. 
Colored Males... 
‘ Females 


0 

1 

0 

2 


Total 



Form of Insanity. 


Imbecility.. 2 

Epileptic. [ . 1 

Total .... a. 3 


Ages of the Insane. 


Eighteen years... 1 

Nineteen c ‘ . 1 

Sixty u . 1 


Total 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Under 1 year 

15 years . 

40 . .. 


1 

1 

1 


Total 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from St. Alary's County in the 

Different Institutions 



White. 


Colored 

1 

1 Total Insane.... 

! Male. 

1 

1 

Female . | 

I 

Total.... 1 

i 

1 

! Male. 

1 

i 

| Female.. 

1 

I 

j Total .... 

1 

County Almshouse . 


1 

l 


2 

2 

3 

Countv Jail.. 


1 

1 




i 

Montcview Hospital . 


1 

1 




i 

Total... 


3 

3 

2 

2 

5 


11) 
























































146 


REPORT OP THE 


ST. MARY’S COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail, completed last September at a cost of $2,500, 
was visited on the 27th of April and found, both in respect to 
material and workmanship, to be solid and secure. The build¬ 
ing is located in the Court House yard, at Leonardtown, and 
presents a neat appearance externally. It is about 33 feet front, 
with a gable of 19 feet, slate roof, and stuccoed walls. 

The lower story, nine feet pitch, is built of stone; the upper 
story, eight feet height of ceiling, is of best quality brick laid in 
cement. The lower or 'ground floor has a passage way four feet 
wide, and a room 12x17 on either side. This entire floor is 
occupied by the jailor and bis family. The upper floor, which 
is approached by a narrow flight of wooden steps from the hall 
below, is also bisected by a passage way, with windows at either 
extremity. On the North side of the passage is cell No. 1, 
which is 12x17 feet in dimensions, with three windows. On the 
South side there are two other cells; No. 2 is 8x12 feet, with 
one window looking to the East. No. 3 is 9x12 feet, and has two 
windows. The windows are all provided with secure gratings 
of small mesh placed on the inner side of the sash; the doors 
are solid wood, iron clad on the cell side, and provided with an 
opening 12 inches square at the top, which is guarded by stout 
iron bars. 

The walls of the cells are all securely cased with iron bars 
three inches wide and one inch thick, extending vertically from 
the lower story above the upper ceiling, which is also substan¬ 
tially secured. These lining bars are placed four inches apart, 
but the brick-work extends between them, and is flush with 
them on the inner surface; all is hidden from view by a coating 
ol plaster. The cells were only reasonably clean, and not at all 
orderly ; clothing and bedding being scattered loosely around. 

There was an absence of jail odor. For privy arrangements 
the prisoners use buckets', which are placed in covered com¬ 
modes, and emptied at regular intervals, or whenever necessary. 
There is no court yard connected with the jail, and prisoners 
are consequently closely and constantly confined in their cells. 

There were only six prisoners in custody—one white woman, 


p 


On page 147 , line 33 , for “bigamy,” read forgery. 
















SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 


147 


insane, one colored girl for forgery, one white man charged with 
bigamy, one colored boy, imbecile, two colored men for. petty 
offences. The white woman occupied cell Ho. 2; she is 34 
years of age and unmarried. For several months she has ex¬ 
hibited paroxysms of violence toward members of her immediate 
family, and finally a legal examination was had and she was 
committed to jail for common assault, where she has now been 
about three weeks. 

The woman is unmistabaly insane, and should be immediately 
placed in an asylum for proper care and treatment. Her mother, 
who is said to be a highly respectable old lady, was in the vil¬ 
lage seeking the release of her daughter from prison, but de¬ 
clared her inability to provide for her in a lunatic asylum; this 
unfortunate creature must yet languish in the cheerless cell of 
the county jail. 

Cell Ho. 2 was occupied by a genteel-looking white man, in¬ 
dicted and at the time undergoing trial for bigamy, which is 
said to be the first indictment ever found for this offence in the 
county of St. Mary’s. 

In cell Ho. 1, in addition to the two negro men serving out 
sentence for minor offences, theie was confined a negro boy, 
Abram Briscoe, aged 17 years, not charged with any offence, 
but simply placed in durance vile “to take care of him.” Al¬ 
though weak minded, it is very evident he would not derive 
benefit from asylum treatment; he could be sufficiently well 
cared for in a poor house if there was a proper one to send him 
to; as he is healthy and strong, he should be required in a 
measure at least to earn his bread, instead of the county being 
taxed sixty cents per diem for his support. Certainly the jail is 
no place for persons entirely free from crime or even criminal 
intent. 

The criminal girl, Hellie Smith, about thirteen years of age. 
was sentenced in September last for bigamy, to four years im¬ 
prisonment, and is now ostensibly serving out the sentence in 
jail. She is not confined in a cell, but has the liberty of the 
house, and performs work for the jailor’s family. The necessity 
of committing such cases to jail strongly suggests the propriety 
of founding district poor houses and houses of industry com¬ 
bined, where this class of offenders could be confined, and at the 
same time required to do work for their own maintenance. At 


148 


REPORT OF THE 


the rate paid by the county, viz: sixty cents per day, for feed¬ 
ing prisoners, this girl will, exclusive ot clothing, cost the county 
in four years, the sum of $876 without rendering any equivalent 
whatever. 

However desirable it may be to have such prisoners con¬ 
stantly employed, the propriety of giving them liberties not 
vouchsafed by the law, nor contemplated in the sentence, and 
using them to do the domestic work of the jailor, without the 
county receiving remuneration for the same, is very questionable. 


149 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


TALBOT COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 


Located seven miles from Easton, on a farm of 300 acres. The 
buildings comprise a new frame dwelling, the residence of the 
Superintendent, distant about 200 yards from almshouse proper, 
which consists of an old brick structure two stories and attic in 
height, and a story and attic back building. The main building 
is occupied by the matron and the white inmates, and the back 
building is set apart exclusively for colored inmates. The sani¬ 
tary condition of the white department was onfeirely satisfactory; 
the floors, walls and beds were very cleanly, and the general 
good order gave evidence of care and attention upon the part of 
the matron ; all the inmates of this part of the house were com¬ 
fortably and neatly clad, presenting an appearance of comfort 
in pleasing contrast with the tattered and filthy condition of 
the inmates in a majority of the almshouses visited. 

The colored department was also in comparatively good con¬ 
dition, and the inmates were as well cared for as the space allot¬ 
ted for their accommodation would admit of, except one room 
which was noticeably filthy. 

The arrangement of both departments is defective in so far as 
maintaining a separation of the sexes is concerned, and conse¬ 
quently an increase of children begotten in the establishment 
has not been infrequent. In one room of the main building 
were found three generations—two illegitimate children begot¬ 
ten and born in the house, the mother also born in the house, 
and the aged grand-parents. Another room was occupied by 
four women and six children, three of the latter said to have 
been begotten and born in the house. In the colored depart¬ 
ment was found a negro woman with two children, both natives 
of the house. Sex mixing seems to be as common among the 
inmates of almshouses as amongst the lowest animals, hence the 
great increase of innocent paupers. 

The insane inmates of this almshouse are mostly harmless 
persons. One negro woman however appeared to be an excep¬ 
tion, and is said to grow violent at times. The privy conveni- 



150 


REPORT OF TIIE 


ences are inconvenient and wholly unsuited for inmates. The 
water supply is good. The rooms of the inmates are heated hv 
stoves. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. * 

“ Females. 

Colored Males.. 

“ Females. 

Children (2 colored). 


8 

7 

8 
8 

13 


Total 


44 


Whole Number .of Insane. 


White Males. 4 

u Females ...... 2 

Colored Males. 3 

“ Females. 1 

Total.. . 10 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia .. 3 

Chronic Mania. 2 

Imbecility. 2 

Epilepsey. *2 

Paralytic. 1 


Total ... 10 


Ages of the Insane. 


15 years. 
22 . 
30 4 ‘ . 

40 “ . 

44 “ . 

47 “ . 

50 “ . 

56 “ . 

60 “ . 


1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

2 
1 
I 


Total 


10 


Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


Under one year.. . 1 

One year. l 

Three years.. 5 

Five “ 1 

Eight “ 1 

Ten ‘ 1 1 


























































SECRETARY OP THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


151 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Talbot County in the 
Different Institutions. 



White. 

Colored. 

Total Insane.... 

Male. 

Female.. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female.. 

Total.... 

County Almshouse. 

4 

2 

6 

3 

1 

4 

10 

Maryland Hospital. 

2 

3 

5 




5 

Mt. Hope Retreat. 








Total. 

6 

5 

11 

3 

1 

4 

15 


TALBOT COUNTY JAIL. 

% 

Talbot County Jail is an old building two stories high. The 
Sheriff occupies a portion of the lower floor. The construction 
of the prison is very bad in itself, and especially so in its rela¬ 
tions to the comforts of the Sheriff’s family. Prisoners must be 
conducted through the Sheriff’s parlor to and from the cells 
which they occupy. The cells used are in the second story; 
there are others in the basement that are not used, except in an 
emergency. On the second floor there are three cells 16x16x10 
feet in dimensions. One of these contained four white men 
awaiting trial, for violation of the oyster law. They were quite 
comfortably lodged, with mattresses on the floor; there were 
no chairs or other furniture. The cells are lined with heavy 
oak boards, and heated by grates. In one of the cells was found 
a colored woman committed for larceny. There is no artificial 
ventilation or privy conveniences. The whole number of pris¬ 
oners was seven at the time of my visit; four white males, two 
colored males and one colored female. 































152 


REPORT OF THE 


WASHINGTON COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This institution, situated in the suburbs of Hagerstown, 
should be presented as a common nuisance. The establishment 
consists of two brick buildings, old, dilapidated and altogether 
unsuited for the purposes of an almshouse. The keeper occu¬ 
pies the principal part of the main building, and the only thing 
that looked like civilization about the premises was his apart¬ 
ments, and two rooms in the rear part of the building, occupied 
by two gentle, tidy old ladies, who with their own feeble hands 
arranged and kept clean their respective apartments, while all 
around them was cheerless and repulsive to a degree that can¬ 
not be described. In this same building there are inmates of 
all ages, sexes and conditions, some insane, some idiotic, others 
weak minded and depraved. Separation of sexes is not provided 
for, nor does it seem to be cared for, and the results of such 
promiscuous association need not be enlarged on. But bad as 
was the condition of affairs in this building, that of the one on 
the opposite side of the road was found to be incomparably 
worse. The rooms were overcrowded, filthy and noisome to an 
incredible degree. The floors, the walls, the bedding all bore 
testimony of the neglected condition of this foul receptacle. 
The sexes occupied the same rooms, mingled together and co¬ 
habited as if poverty created no distinctions. Boom No. 7 was 
occupied by five colored persons, two men, two women and one 
child. One of the women, though very young, was already over¬ 
shadowed by the primeval sorrow of her sex, doubtless the re¬ 
sult of almshouse immorality. One of the rooms on the second 
floor contained six feeble old men, two being ill and confined to 
their so-called beds, disgustingly filthy sacks, which looked as if 
they might once have been filled with straw. One of th6 occu¬ 
pants stated that when an inmate died, as had been the case 
only a few days before, the corpse was allowed to remain in the 
room where they all slept until buried. 

Another room was occupied by three colored women ; it was 







SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 153 

dark, dismal, and mephitic; indeed the entire establishment is 
imperfectly ventilated, utterly without sanitary regulations and 
destitute of the commonest conveniences of life. There are no 
water closet arrangements; the inmates use vessels in their 
rooms and then empty them in the adjoining fields. The whole 
atmosphere of the establishment is contaminated, and cannot 
fail, sooner or later, to endanger the sanitary condition of the 
neighborhood. 

Under the same roof of the building just described, but sepa¬ 
rated from other apartments by a partition, is what the keeper 
calls “the insane department.” As we entered there was pre¬ 
sented a scene of indescribable confusion and clamor. A num¬ 
ber of irrational, incoherent human beings, white and black, 
male and female indiscriminately mixed, some excited and vio¬ 
lent, some quiet and subdued, others weeping and wailing with¬ 
out intermission. One insane woman came rushing towards us 
with oaths and imprecations, brandishing a chunck of fire taken 
from the stove, and with which she said she intended to “drive 
the robbers from the house.” One of the female inmates was 
confined in a separate room; she was very noisy and profane, 
and made determined efforts to obtain admittance into the room 
which was dark, filthy and offensive; the bedding was so worn 
and soiled as to be unfit for use. The adjoining room contained 
two females, one aged 66, a quiet dement, the other aged 35, a 
drivelling idiot. The offensive contents of an open night vessel 
which sat in the middle of the floor filled the room with noisome 
exhalations; the walls were stained and besmeared with filth. 
A small room opposite this was occupied by a young man, Wm. 
Barber, an epileptic, who was chained to the floor by one leg : 
he conversed rationally, and said he was chained for cursing a 
woman while suffering from the effects of an epileptic seizure. 
He earnestly begged to be released. Another room was occu¬ 
pied by a male patient 28 years of age, who was also chained to 
the floor. This patient was at one time in the Maryland Hos¬ 
pital, but was removed by his father, who is represented to be 
quite a wealthy man, on account of the alleged expense of keep¬ 
ing him in the hospital. On the second floor of this department 
one room contained five persons, sick and insane; the room was 
horridly dirty and offensive; unemptied chamber pots were 


20 


154 


REPORT OF THE 


noticed about the apartment, their contents polluting the air 
and filling the room with a sickening stench. Other rooms on 
this floor were in a like bad sanitary condition. 

Surely nothing ever surpassed in horror and inhumanity a 
scene witnessed in this hovel of misery. Susan Huttman, an 
insane white woman, aged 20 years, was found in a condition of 
wretchedness too shocking to repeat, if it were not in the hope 
that when so sad a picture is presented it will arouse the public 
indignation to the extent, at least, of enforcing some reforma¬ 
tion. The civilization of the age and the humanities of our 
race demand it! 

When the door of the room in which this poor demented 
creature was confined was unlocked and opened, the stench was 
so overpowering as to force me to retreat to the far side of the 
hall; a second effort to enter the room occasioned nausea even 
to vomiting, but being determined to sec the condition of affairs 
within, effort after effort was made until the senses became suf¬ 
ficiently educated or accustomed to the loathsomeness of the 
place to permit me to enter. The only window to the room 
was closely planked up, so that neither light nor air was ad¬ 
mitted. By the aid of a wax taper a scene was revealed that 
would have been a reproach even upon the barbaric ages and 
institutions of the world. In one corner of this foetid den was 
crouched the form of a young woman almost in a state of nudity, 
and filthy beyond expression. No attempt induced her to talk 
or even reply to a question; her mind was completely over¬ 
shadowed by the gloom of dementia, most probably fixed and 
intensified by her wretched surroundings, which a very slight 
exercise of common sense and humanity might have entirely 
prevented. 

There was not an article of furniture in the room, not even 
the decayed-looking mattress and soiled blanket that were found 
in the other rooms of this establishment; the floor was the only 
couch for this unfortunate woman, and that was thick covered 
and slimy with her own excretions, in which she wallowed by 
day and by night. The reason assigned for keeping her in this 
dungeon, reaking* with noxious exhalations was, that her filthy 
habits rendered her an unfit inmate for the hall, where the other 
patients were permitted to exercise. A greater object of pity' 
and distress was surely never beheld! 


155 


SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 

As in other parts of the house, there are no arrangements here 
for the separation of the sexes, from which omission the most 
deplorable consequences have resulted. Jennie Hays, an imbe¬ 
cile, was several months advanced in pregnancy; she had already 
borne two children, the last begotten in the almshouse. Many 
other disgusting scenes could be recited in connection with this 
abode of human wretchedness, filth and vice, but enough has 
been said already Surely the enlightened people of Washing¬ 
ton county will not endure this place much longer. 

Whole Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 5T 

u Females. 38 

Colored Males. 8 

Females. 7 

Total.>... 110 


Whole Number of Insane. 


White Males. 14 

“ Females.. 13 

Colored Males. 2 

Females. 0 

Total. 29 


Form of Insanity. 


Acute Mania. 2 

Chronic Mania. 4 

Imbecility. . 3 

Dementia. 17 

Idiocy. I 

Melancholia. I 

Epilepsy. 1 

Total. 29 


Ages of the Insane. 

Under 20 years. I 

From 20 to 25 years.. 3 

25 <■ 30 “ 3 

* 3o “ 40 “ 4 

“ 40 “ 45 tm 3 

'• 45 ‘ 50 “ 3 

“ 50 “ 55 “ 3 

“ 55 '• 60 “ 3 

“ 60 “ 65 '* 3 

u 65 ‘ 70 *• .... 

70 4 80 I 

Total .. ... 











































15G 


REPORT or THE 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Washington County in 
Different Institutions. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail is an old stone structure one story high with a base¬ 
ment, used for the heating apparatus, &c. The cells open into 
a large hall 60x12x15 feet. The walls showed the effect of age, 
and had been so frequently whitewashed that the lime was fall¬ 
ing off in flakes, presenting an irregular surface for the lodg¬ 
ment of dust and foul matter exhaled from the bodies of prison¬ 
ers. They need thorough scraping and whitewashing. A 
register in the hall furnished ample heat. In the centre of the 
hall roof are two round shafts for ventilation, which work well. 
The cells are 15x10x10 with arched roof, plank floor, a register, 
and a ventilator in the roof in addition to a Avindow. The ven¬ 
tilation is excellent, both in the cells and hall. The privy ac¬ 
commodations were very incon\ T enient and defective, consisting 
only of a privy in the jail yard, accessible through a door in the 
rear of the hall which is kept locked except at stated ti mes each 
day ; at other times the prisoners use buckets in their cells, 
which emit the odor of their contents. But for the excellent 
and simple \ T entilation of the interior this defective system Avould 
be likely to cause sickness. There is no provision for the sep¬ 
aration of the sexes except confinement in the cells. There are 
no bathing arrangements whatever. The number of prisoners 
at the time of my visit was 14, including a sprightly colored 
boy 13 years old, who should be removed to the House of Re¬ 
formation for Colored Children. The jail is surrounded by a 
stone Avail 20 feet high enclosing an airing court, which is inse¬ 
cure and consequently not used. A Avell in the jail yard sup¬ 
plies the water used. 




























SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 157 


WICOMICO COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse is located about ten miles from Salisbury, on 
a farm of 172 acres. The building is a two.story frame house 
with finished attic and a one-story side building. The Superin¬ 
tendent resides in a portion of the main building, the remain¬ 
ing space being used for inmates. The appearance and 
sanitary condition of the establishment show general neglect 
and indifference. The rooms of the colored inmates were even 
in a worse condition than those of the whites. There were 
only ten inmates, three of whom are insane. The water supply is 
from a well in the yard, and the rooms are heated by fireplaces. 

Whoie Number of Inmates. 


White Males. 2 

‘ ‘ Females. 1 

Colored Males .. 4 

“ Females. 1 

Colored Children. 2 

Total.. JO 


Total Number of Insane. 


White Males. 2 

11 Females. 1 

Total. 3 


Ages of the Insane. 


50 years. I 

55 <• 1 

GO “ .... . 1 

Total. 3 


Forms of Insanity. 


Chronic Mania. 1 

Dementia.. 2 


Total 


3 






























158 


REPORT OF THE 




Length of Time in the Almshouse. 


3 years. .’. 1 

4 “ I 

9 “ 1 

Total. 3 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Wicomico County in the 
I) ffevent Institutions. 



WICOMICO COUNTY JAIL. 

This county has had no jail or court house buildings since its 
existence as a county, but a jail is now being built. The plan of 
the jail is excellent in all respects. It is two stories high and 
built of press brick. The first and second floors contain each 
four cells, which are arranged on each side of a passage ; a dark 
cell is also constructed at the rear of the passage on each floor. 
The whole building is heated by a furnace in the basement. 
There is no provision for artificial ventilation, an error in the 
completeness of the design and an unfortunate omission. The 
shape of the roof is such as to have afforded ready facility for 
the most admirable ventilation, and at no additional cost. An¬ 
other feature of this jail, which is objectionable in a sanitary 
point ofview^is that the water closets open directly into each 
cell. In the basement are cells called dungeons, intended as 
places of punishment for unruly prisoners. The cost of this 
jail when completed will be $7000, a very reasonable expendi¬ 
ture for such a neat and substantial structure. 
































SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 


159 


WORCESTER COUNTY ALMSHOUSE. 

This almshouse is located about three miles and a-h a If from 
Snow Ilill on a farm of from 400 to 500 acres. The buildings 
are a frame house and outbuildings occupied entirely by the 
Superintendent; a large brick building one story high, with 
finished attic for white, and a small frame one-story building 
for colored inmates. The brick building is peculiar in its- con¬ 
struction, resembling an army hospital tent in shape. It was 
built in 1838 and is 75x40 feet. The first floor is divided by a 
long passage way paved with brick extending the whole length 
of the building, which is crossed in the centre by another ex¬ 
tending its width. The principal passage has four large rooms 
on each side opening upon it, some of which are occupied by 
inmates, and others used as lumber rooms. The sanitary con¬ 
dition of the occupied rooms was tolerably good, and presented 
more than an average of cleanliness. The beds and bedding 
were ample and in excellent order. The inmates were mostly 
aged persons of both sexes. One room was occupied by an aged 
man and his wife, also another man. a child, and an imbecile 
girl about 18 years old. The attic floor was not occupied; the 
Superintendent, in explanation of its de'molished appearance, 
said “it had been occupied by a violent maniac who had recently 
been confined there, and during the time was chained to a post 
which supported the roof of the building.” 

The colored department consists of a small frame building in 
the rear of the brick. It has but one room and a loft. The 
room was 16 feet square and was occupied by four inmates. 
There was one old man about 65 years of age, blind from double 
cataract; a male imbecile about 25 years of age; an old woman 
of feeble mind, and a young girl about twenty years of age also 
blind. The sanitary condition of the colored inmates was very 
bad, and their care and comfort too much neglected. 


160 


REPORT OF THE 


Total Number of Inmates. 


White Males.... 
“ Females.. 
11 Children 
Colored Males .. 
‘ ‘ Females. 


3 

8 

-j 

2 


Total 



Number of Insane. 


White Males. 1 

“ Females.„. 1 

Colored Males. 1 

“ Females. 2 


Total. . . . 5 


Forms of Insanity. 


Dementia... 1 

Imbecility. 4 


Total 


Ages of the Insane. 


25 years. 1 

40 “ 2 

50 “ 1 

60 “ I 


Total 


Length of Time in Almshouse. 


Nine years. 1 

Twelve “ . 1 

Sixteen u . 1 

Twenty “ . 2 


Total 










































SECRETARY OP THE STATE BOARD OF HEALH 


161 


Whole Number of Indigent Insane from Worcester County in Dif¬ 
ferent Institutions. 


1 


White 


Colored. 

| Total Insane... 

Male. 

Female .. 

1 

j Total.... 

<D 

§ 

Female.. 

1 Total.... 

1 

County Almshouse.. 

! 1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 

5 

Maryland Hospital. 

1 3 

1 

4 




4 

Total. . 

1 4 

2 

6 

1 

2 

3 

9 


WORCESTER COUNTY JAIL. 

This jail is located near the Court House, and is an old brick 
building. The first story is occupied by the keeper and his 
family. The second is divided into four cells, each of which is 
15x15x10 feet. The floors are of plank and the ceilings of sheet 
iron. The walls are of brick with cross bars of iron forming a 
network. The cells have two windows each, but have- no arti¬ 
ficial ventilation and no sewage conveniences. No beds are pro¬ 
vided for prisoners, but blankets are supplied. Five colored 
male prisoners were found in one cell, which was the only one 
occupied. 


21 























162 


REPORT OP TIIE 




Consolidated Table Showing the Whole Number of Inmates in the 

Almshouses of the State. 


White. 


Alleghany County. 

Anne Arundel County 

Baltimore City. 

Baltimore County .... 

Caroline 11 . 

Carroll 11 

Cecil . 

Charles “ .. 

Dorchester “ .. 

Frederick “ . 

Harford u . 

Kent “ . 

Montgomery . 

Prince George ‘ 1 .. .. 

Queen Anne’s . 

Somerset “ .. .. 

St. Mary’s l£ . 

Talbot . 

Washington “ 

Wicomico u . 

Worcester “ ‘ — 


o 

*5 

<3 

S 

a> 

pH 

5 

3 

340 

288 

66 

27 

4 

8 

22 

29 

35 

25 

2 

3 

4 

7 

92 

62 

17 

8 

7 

13 

7 

2 

3 

8 

5 

11 

2 

2 


2 

8 

7 

57 

38 


2 I 


3 8 


Total 


68 


552 



Colored. 

Children. 

j Total Insane.,, 

Total.... 

j Male ... 

j Female. 

Total.... 

8 

7 

2 

9 


j 17 

628 

67 

101 

168 

23 

819 

93 

9 

14 

23 

5 

121 

12 

7 

5 

12 

10 

34 

51 

3 

8 

11 


62 

6t) 

11 

6 

17 

11 

88 

5 


1 

1 

2 

8 

11 

6 

6 

12 


23 

154 

40 

28 

68 


222 

25 

13 

11 

24 

4 

53 

20 

10 

10 

20 

9 

49 

9 

8 

7 

15 

2 

26 

11 

3 

3 

6 

6 

23 

16 

5 

1 

12 


28 

4 

5 

5 

10 

4 

18 

2 


6 

6 

2 

10 

15 

8 

8 

16 

13 

44 

95 

8 

7 

15 


110 

3 

4 

1 

5 

2 

10 

11 

2 

3 

5 

2 

18 

1233 

216 

239 

455 

95 

1783 


























































secretary of the state board of health. 




Consolidated Table Showing the Whole Number of Indigent insane 
in the County Almshouses , Jails and Hospitals of the State. 


Alleghany County. 

Anne Arundel County 

Baltimore City. 

Baltimore County.... 
Calvert ‘ ‘ . ... 

Caroline ‘‘ . ... 

Carroll ‘ ‘ . 

Cecil “ . 

Charles “. . 

Dorchester “ .. .. 

Frederick “ .... 

Harford “ . 

Howard i: . 

Kent u .... 

Montgomery u . 

Prince George c> . 

Queen Anne’s ‘‘ . 

Somerset “ . 

St. Mary’s *' . 

Talbot “ . 

Washington . 

Wicomico 4< . ... 

Worcester “ . 

Total . 


White. 

Colored. 

• O' 

G 

c: 
ai 


• 

. 

. 


• 

G 

* 

* 

* 

• 


* 



<V 


CD 

o3 

a 



3 

s 

0) 

o 

EH 

IS 

3 

a 

■*-' 

o 

H 

O 

19 

15 

34 


1 

1 

35 

8 

8 

16 

6 

3 

9 

25 

156 

113 

329 

13 

23 

36 

365 

li 

15 

26 

1 

1 

2 

28 

1 


1 

2 

. 

o 

3 

2 

4 

6 


2 

2 

8 

6 

11 

17 


1 

1 

18 

11 

7 

18 

• • •• 

1 

1 

19 

2 

2 

4 

1 


1 

5 

1 

6 

7 


1 

1 

8 

24 

24 

48 

5 

2 

7 

55 

12 

12 

24 

4 

5 

9 

33 

1 

4 

5 


2 

2 

i 

2 

4 

6 

3 

1 

4 

10 

7 

4 

11 

3 

2 

5 

16 

9 

4 

13 

2 

3 

5 

18 

5 

6 

11 

2 

± 

3 

14 

3 

3 

6 

1 


1 

i 


3 

3 


2 

2 

5 

6 

5 

11 

3 

1 

4 

15 

21 

16 

37 

2 


2 

39 

2 

2 

4 

1 


1 

5 

4 

2 

6 

1 

2 

3 

9 

313 

330 

643 

50 

54 

1 104 

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